


Robin Romance

by The_Devil_In_The_Details_666



Series: Tiny Tim [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jason Todd is Robin, Kid Fic, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Tim Drake is Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:27:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21775180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Devil_In_The_Details_666/pseuds/The_Devil_In_The_Details_666
Summary: Sequel to Fast Friendships.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Series: Tiny Tim [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565995
Comments: 59
Kudos: 491
Collections: Tim Drake





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This starts 4 months after the end of Fast Friendships.
> 
> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It continues.

Tim knew something was up. Jason, Dick, even Bruce, they had been acting weird for days. Whispering frantically and clamming up as soon as they realized he was there, huddling up together to look at something on one of their phones before hurriedly hiding it when he approached, frankly pathetic lies followed by avoiding him when he asked what they were doing.

(“Why are you all acting so weird?”, Tim asked, cornering Dick in the dining room.

Dick looked around like a caged animal and blurted, “Uh, sorry, I don’t have time to talk! I, um, have to go help Alfred, uh, wash the garden?”)

Point is, they were acting weird and it was making Tim nervous. Logically, he knew that it was probably something to do with his parents (which was equally weird, because they had been sentenced to life in prison three months ago), but the little anxiety goblin that had evolved into a paranoia goblin through Robin training immediately latched on, insisting that it was evidence that they hated him and were planning to kick him out. And Tim tried to ignore the little voice, he really did, but it was insistent, reminding him of how he was so pathetic that even his own parents left the country to avoid him, how everyone at school avoided him, how it was more than likely that they were trying to figure out where they could send him that wouldn’t look too suspicious. Tim understood it. It hurt, it hurt more than anything he had ever imagined, but he understood. He wasn’t a Robin, not yet, and he had probably tested their patience one too many times by failing at training (though he could only remember a handful of training modules that he had really, really struggled with out of the hundred or so he had done), so they were probably deciding to cut their losses and get rid of him, maybe send him somewhere that he wouldn’t be able to reveal their identities, not that he would anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The anxiety got so bad that, on the morning of July 18th, Tim found himself curled in a hidden corner of the Batcave, trying to get himself under control as he hyperventilated. His whole body ached from staying up the whole night to train, to try to redeem himself, but he ignored it, too used to pain and exhaustion to be too bothered by it. He couldn’t stop shaking, burying his face in knees and rubbing his fingers over his charms as he tried to squash the panic bubbling up in his gut, and he nearly jumped out of his skin when Jason’s soft voice asked, “Baby Bird? What the- Have you been down here all night, Baby Bird?”

Tim curled tighter and whimpered, “I’m sorry. I know I’m not good enough and I understand if you guys want me to leave. I promise I won’t-”.

Tim’s half-babbled apology was suddenly cut off by Jason exclaiming, “Who the fuck told you that we want you to leave, Baby Bird?”

Tim looked up from his knees to see Jason looking like he had just been sucker-punched, his face an odd mix of scared and sad and angry. He reached out to Tim, then, for the first time in months, asked, “Is it okay if I touch you, Baby Bird?”

Tim nodded and Jason gently pulled him into a warm hug, tucking Tim into his lap and cradling him close. He rested his chin on the top of Tim’s head, stating, “I don’t know where you got the idea that we don’t want you here, Baby Bird, but I’ll go ahead and correct that for you. We want you here. _I_ want you here, more than I really know how to express.”

Tim curled into the hold, soaking in the comfort that Jason gave so freely, and held Jason’s words close to his heart, hoping, _praying_ , that they were true. The tears that he had been trying to hold back started spilling over and he buried his face in Jason’s shoulder as Jason asked softly, “Can you tell me why you thought we want you gone?”

Tim snuggled close, whispering, “You and Dick and Bruce have been avoiding me recently and whispering about something you don’t want me knowing and I know I’m failing in training and I thought that maybe you had finally realized that I’m too much of a burden and-”.

His rambling dissolved into helpless sobs and Jason ran his fingers through Tim’s hair, answering, “First things first, Baby Bird. You are not and have never been a burden, got it?”

Tim didn’t respond and Jason gently guided Tim to look him dead in the eyes, repeating, “Got it, Baby Bird? You are never a burden.”

Tim nodded, feeling a blush creeping up in his cheeks, and Jason allowed him to hide his face back in his shirt, continuing, “As for failing training, bullshit. You’re doing really, really well, not that that really surprises anyone. And as for our weird behavior, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but we were planning a surprise birthday party for you.”

Tim lifted his head from Jason’s shoulder to look at Jason with teary eyes, asking, “Really?”

Jason kissed his forehead and sighed, “Yeah. Shit, Baby Bird, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about how you would see us acting all distant and secretive.”

Tim curled closer to Jason, feeling the last of the anxiety still churning in his gut start to settle as Jason adjusted his arm to hold Tim a little more securely. Jason seemed to be lost in thought, probably beating himself up for freaking Tim out, and Tim, trying to make him feel better, quietly stated, “I’ve never celebrated my birthday before.”

Jason frowned at that and his grip tightened a little as he replied, “That’s why we wanted to make this birthday good for you.”

Tim rested his head on Jason’s collarbone, his fading adrenaline and lack of sleep making him start to feel exhausted, and mumbled, “’S long as ‘m with you, it’ll be the best.”

Jason smiled softly and kissed Tim’s head, answering, “You’re sweet, Baby Bird.”

Tim gave a sleepy thumb-up and yawned widely, prompting Jason to gently pick him up bridal style and start carrying him towards the stairs, teasing, “Looks like it’s bedtime for you, Baby Bird.”

Tim didn’t dignify that with a response, instead just adjusting his head to a comfortable position on Jason’s shoulder and closing his eyes. He drifted into a doze for a little, only coming to when Jason gently lowered him into a soft bed, murmuring, “Gimme just a minute, Baby Bird, then I’ll cuddle with you.”

Tim nodded and rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in a pillow that smelled surprisingly like Jason. Tim contemplated it for all of 3 seconds before his brain dropped it, too tired to really care. Then Tim’s blankets were being draped over him and Jason was climbing in beside him, wrapping him up in a warm, cozy hug. Tim melted into it, snuggling close and letting himself drift asleep to the feeling of Jason’s fingers running through his hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim woke up with Jason curled around him protectively, bundled in blankets. Jason was warm against him, helping soothe his sore muscles, and Tim snuggled into the hold, letting his eyes fall closed again and relishing in the post-panic-attack cuddles. The room was filled with comfortable, sleepy silence and Tim started to drift off into a doze when the door suddenly burst open and Dick exclaimed, “Jay, Tim is- Oh. Tim is right here.”

Jason, who had startled awake at Dick’s entrance, rubbed his face against the top of Tim’s hair and mumbled, “Yep. He knows about the party, too. Turns out he’s not a fan of us keeping secrets.”

Tim pried his eyes open to see Dick pouting as he plopped down on the bed, moving to lay against Jason’s back as he stated, “That sucks. Sorry, Timmy.”

Jason grumbled at Dick’s presence, but Tim lifted his head to give Dick a small smile, stating, “It’s okay. I appreciate the thought.”

Dick smiled and Tim settled back in against Jason, closing his eyes as peaceful silence reigned for several long minutes.

“Dick, get the fuck out of my bed.”

“No. I wanna cuddle and since you and Tim are cuddling, I may as well join.”

Silence reigned again and Tim started to drift asleep.

“Dickwing, I swear to fuckin’ god, if you even think about it, I will _kill you_ , you octopus-limbed freak.”

Long arms wrapped around Tim, squishing him closer to Jason as Dick cooed, “Totally worth it.”

A leg joined the fray, wrapping around them, and Tim sighed sleepily as Jason squirmed angrily, cussing Dick out. Finally, Tim buried his face in Jason’s shoulder and mumbled, “Shhhhh. ‘M tired.”

Jason grumbled in annoyance, but settled, allowing Tim to drift back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The morning of July 19, Tim woke up to the smell of coffee. His eyes fluttered open, then he went cross-eyed trying to look at the red mug less than an inch from his face. He gently pushed it away, sitting up slowly, and Jason pressed the mug into his hands, a fond smirk on his face. Tim took a sip of the steaming coffee, a small groan of pleasure escaping him at the rich taste, and Jason reached out to run his fingers through Tim’s hair, murmuring, “Happy birthday, Baby Bird. Hope we can make it a good one.”

Tim leaned into the touch, a smile tugging at his lips, and answered, “It already is, Jay.”

That made Jason laugh a little and they sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, Tim drinking his coffee and Jason playing with Tim’s hair. Then Jason stated, “Hurry up and get ready. We’re goin’ out. Wear something business casual.”

Tim looked up in surprise and Jason kissed his forehead, then left the room. Tim finished off his mug, then got out of bed and got dressed in khaki pants and a polo, pulling his shoes on and taking his mug downstairs. There, he found Jason, Dick, and Bruce waiting. Dick immediately pulled Tim into a tight hug, chirping, “Happy birthday, Timmy! You’re 14 now!”

Tim laughed despite himself as Dick released him, stating, “That is typically what comes after 13, Dick. But thank you.”

Dick made a face at him and Jason plucked the empty mug from Tim’s fingers, placing it in the dishwasher as Bruce clapped Tim on the shoulder, wishing Tim a happy birthday. Then Jason cleared his throat and suggested, “Shall we?”

Tim was herded out to the garage and into one of the numerous cars, squishing in beside Jason. Dick and Bruce were in the front, with Bruce driving, and Tim finally asked, “So, um, where are we going?”

Jason smiled and answered, “You’ll see, Baby Bird. You’ll like it.”

Tim raised an eyebrow and Jason booped his nose gently as Bruce pulled out of the gates. Dick fiddled with the radio, finding a station playing some upbeat pop music, and Tim stared out the window, trying to figure out where they were going. Finally, they pulled up outside Wayne Enterprises and Tim looked over at Jason in confusion. Jason grinned and announced, “We figured a little tech nerd like you would enjoy getting to poke around in the R&D labs here.”

Tim’s eyes went wide and an excited squeak escaped him as he began practically vibrating in his seat at the idea of getting to see all the cool technology Wayne Enterprises was developing. Jason gave a snort of laughter and reached out to ruffle Tim’s hair and Bruce parked the car. The four piled out and Bruce led them in, earning a surprised look from the receptionist, who greeted, “Oh, Mr. Wayne, I wasn’t aware you were planning to bring your sons today!”

Bruce smiled vapidly and answered, “It was rather spur of the moment, Janet.”

The receptionist, Janet, laughed awkwardly as they continued past her and into the elevators. Bruce pressed the button for the 63rd floor and Tim couldn’t help but bounce on his toes with excitement, making Jason laugh again and tease, “Y’know, B, somethin’ tells me that Tim’s a little excited to see the labs.”

Bruce looked over at Tim, amusement evident on his face, but didn’t say anything as the elevator stopped. The doors slid open and Bruce led them out into a window-lined hallway overlooking large labs. Tim was immediately peering through the windows, eyes wide as he stared down at the tech being made, and it took Jason wrapping an arm around his shoulders and half-dragging him to make him move even as Jason stated, “C’mon, Baby Bird, and you can take an up-close look at the tech.”

Tim’s eyes were as wide as they could go as he was led into the labs themselves and introduced to various developers, who seemed happy to tell Tim all about their projects.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim spent all day in the labs, happily soaking in as much information as he possibly could like the nerd that he was. It wasn’t until Jason practically dragged him out that Tim realized just how long he had been in the labs. Jason looked smug as the foursome headed down to the car and, as they settled into their seats, he asked, “Have fun, Baby Bird?”

Tim nodded like a bobblehead, gushing, “That was so cool! Did you see the experimental water filter they were working on?”

Jason looked even more smug as Tim happily rambled about the tech and Tim couldn’t help the warmth bubbling in his chest. The drive passed quickly and, as soon as they reached the house, Jason grabbed Tim’s hand and led him down to the Cave, stating, “There’s somethin’ we wanna show you, Baby Bird.”

Tim followed and soon found himself standing in front of one of the workbenches, which had a large cloth draped over it. Jason pulled the cloth away to reveal that the workbench had two large toolboxes under it, then announced, “Your workspace, Baby Bird. Bruce thought that, given your love of tech, it might be smart to give you a space to let you create the things that you think of.”

Tim’s eyes flooded with tears and he practically tackled Jason in a hug, his heart feeling too full. Jason kissed his head and hugged back for a few moments before Tim pulled away, going to investigate his workspace and arrange the tools to his liking. Jason settled into the chair to watch, looking quite pleased, and Tim couldn’t even begin to fight the smile on his face as he sorted the wrenches.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim went to bed that night with his stomach full of cake, his head full of ideas, and his heart full of love. Jason came in to wish him goodnight and Tim leaned in, kissing him and stating, “This has been the best birthday I’ve ever had, Jay. Thank you.”

Jason grinned and kissed Tim again, answering, “I’m really glad to hear that, Baby Bird. Now scoot over a little, I have the sudden urge to cuddle with you.”

Tim scooted over without hesitation and unwrapped his blankets so Jason could climb under them, wrapping himself around Tim as Tim closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick poll: How many of you want to see Damian in this fic?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim's first patrol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

Tim’s first patrol was July 24th, as Robin (lovingly nicknamed Red Robin by Jason for how bright red he had turned when Jason told him he made a cute Robin). Tim had insisted on pants for his costume, because there was absolutely no goddamn way he was going out wearing fucking _scaly panties_ , and his weapon of choice was a bo staff, which he had discovered a particular affinity for. He bounced on his toes waiting for Bruce to get dressed, earning a fond look from Jason, who was staying in for the night to study, which Tim suspected was code for ‘sit at the computer and watch Tim’s lens-feed while occasionally glancing at his notes’. Jason spun in the computer chair lazily, then propped his feet on the counter and asked, “You excited, Baby Bird?”

Tim nodded eagerly and chirped, “You have no idea how much of a dream come true this is, Jay!”

Jason laughed at that and beckoned to Tim. Tim approached and Jason snagged the front of his red tunic, pulling Tim in for a kiss and ordering, “Be careful, Baby Bird. I want you back in the same condition you left in.”

Tim smiled and answered, “I’ll be careful, Jay, I promise. Besides, none of the big villains are out tonight.”

Jason booped Tim’s nose as Bruce emerged in full Batman gear, then teased, “Don’t say that, Baby Bird. You’ll jinx it.”

Tim stole one more kiss, then turned to Bruce, asking eagerly, “Are we ready to go?”

Bruce smiled slightly at Tim’s eagerness and Tim bounced on his toes, practically vibrating. Finally, Bruce stated in his Batman voice, “Let’s go, Robin.”

Tim bolted for the Batmobile and scrambled in, nearly catching his face on the roof in his eagerness. Bruce shook his head in amusement and slid gracefully into the driver’s seat, then started the engine. Tim jittered happily and Bruce pulled out of the Cave as the Batmobile’s comm beeped. Then Jason stated, “Good luck, Baby Bird. You’ll do fuckin’ _fantastic_. I believe in you.”

Tim blushed under his domino, but smiled as Bruce scolded, “Language, Jason.”

Jason responded by blowing a raspberry like the totally mature 14-year old he was, then ended the call. Bruce steered the Batmobile towards 12th Street, where they were starting their patrol, and asked, “How are you feeling, Robin?”

Tim straightened, still reeling a little at the fact that _he_ was _Robin_ , and answered, “Excited. A little nervous. Glad that none of the big villains are out right now.”

Bruce gave a small smile and chided, “Don’t say that. You’ll jinx it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim jinxed it. That was the only explanation for Tim’s present situation.

“Tell me, New Robin. What’s your greatest fear?”

Tim channeled his inner-Jason, giving his best snarl as he leapt at Scarecrow. Scarecrow gave a mocking coo, then raised his gas canister and sprayed the noxious green gas directly into Tim’s face. Tim crashed into Scarecrow, accidentally sucking in a lungful of the fear gas, and knocked him to the floor, snatching the canister out of Crane’s hands and smashing it over the villain’s head. Scarecrow let out a howl of pain and clawed at Tim, shouting, “Get off of me, you little brat!”

Tim slammed the canister into Crane’s head again, taunting, “Looks like your new mix was a dud, Crane.”

Crane staggered to his feet, trying to throw Tim off, but Tim had learned to octopus-cling from the best, wrapping his legs around Crane’s chest and repeatedly smashing the canister into Crane’s head until his collapsed to his knees and toppled face-first onto the concrete of the abandoned warehouse they had found him and his henchmen in. Tim wrestled Crane’s hands behind his back, cuffing them as Batman knocked the last henchman unconscious and swung down from the catwalk, asking, “Did he gas you, Robin?”

Tim nodded, answering, “He did, but his new formula was a dud. I feel fine.”

Batman nodded, calling in Scarecrow’s location. Then he and Tim continued on their patrol.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the patrol went peacefully enough and Tim and Bruce soon returned to the Cave, where Alfred was waiting at the Batcomputer, having sent Jason to bed. Tim took a quick shower and pulled his pajamas on, then helped Bruce type up a report for the night for an hour or so before Bruce sent him off to bed because he couldn’t stop yawning as the adrenaline faded. Tim went without complaint, curling in his blankets and letting himself drift off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim woke up slowly, eyes feeling gummy and heavy like he was sick. Prying them open felt like too much work, so Tim didn’t bother, just settling deeper into his blankets. Then a spine-chilling voice beside his voice spat, “Get up, Timothy. It is disgraceful for the Drake heir to laze about.”

Every single one of Tim’s muscles locked tight and he jerked bolt upright, forcing his eyes open to see his bedroom in Drake Manor. Janet was standing beside his bed, a look on her face that made Tim want to bolt, and Tim opened his mouth to say something, though what he wasn’t sure. Janet gave a haughty sniff, then turned her back to him, rifling through his closet and pulling out clothing as she stated, “I expect you to be dressed and ready to leave within the hour. If you aren’t, there will be _consequences_.”

Tim swallowed back the bile rising in his throat and squeaked, “Leave for where?”

That made Janet turn to look at him, scoffing, “Leave for where? For boarding school, Timothy. You’ve proven yourself to be too much trouble to keep around. Your father and I found a school in the Swiss Alps with very high reviews and a quite respectable disciplinary policy. After all, spare the rod, spoil the child. You won’t need to bring anything, they will provide everything. Now, get dressed.”

Tim swallowed back the bile in his throat, and Janet gave him an imperious look, then left the room. Tim tossed his blankets off with shaking hands, then dove into his closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and a random shirt, both of which he wriggled into before pulling on his sneakers and opening his window, sliding out. He glanced around the backyard, then sprinted for the trees that lined the estate, ducking into them and pausing to listen if anyone had noticed him. Once sure that he had gotten away unnoticed, he began running, heading for Wayne Manor. He scrambled through the hole in the fence that Jason had shown him, then ran for the front door, knocking rapidly. He glanced over his shoulder, then jumped as the front door opened, revealing a confused-looking Jason. Tim nearly sobbed with relief and immediately babbled, “You have to help me, please, I woke up in bed in back _there_ and _they_ wanted to send me-”

Tim snapped his mouth shut as Jason held up his hands soothingly, hoping Jason would know what was happening. Jason glanced around furtively, then suggested, “Why don’t you come inside?”

Tim nodded and Jason led him into the living room, gesturing for Tim to sit on the couch. Jason settled on the coffee table and, in the voice Tim knew as his victim-calming voice, asked, “Can you tell me your name, kid?”

The words hit Tim like a punch in the gut and he gave a strangled sob, making Jason’s eyes widen as Jason placated, “Hey, whoa, whoa, it’s okay. Do you- Do you know your name?”

Another sob escaped Tim and he curled in on himself, clenching his fists in his hair and pulling, hoping the pain would help. Instead, he felt Jason’s hands curls around his wrists, pulling his hands away from his head as he soothed, “Hey, hey, it’s okay, you’re okay, don’t hurt yourself, kid. It’s okay if you can’t remember. We’ll get you the help you need, I promise.”

Tim struggled to get away, but Jason’s grip was too strong as Jason asked, “Can you tell me where you were?”

Tears streamed down Tim’s cheeks and he shook his head, making Jason sigh and ask, “Can you tell me anything?”

Tim shook his head again and struggled to get free, finally remembering the move that Jason himself had taught him. He managed to break Jason’s grip, sending Jason toppling to the floor, and bolted, vaguely hearing Jason shouting for Bruce. He raced through the halls of Wayne Manor, tracing the path back to his bedroom, and threw open the door, hoping, praying, that it would be the same.

It was empty.

Tim dropped to his knees with a strangled sob and distantly registered Bruce’s almost-silent footsteps behind him. Then a sweet-smelling cloth was pressed over his nose and mouth and the world blurred into blackness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim came to in the Cave, handcuffed to a bed in the infirmary. He could hear Jason and Bruce talking quietly and he began struggling, feeling around for anything he could use as a lockpick. His movement must have alerted Jason and Bruce, because he heard their near-silent footsteps approach. Then Jason’s soft voice asked, “Tim? Can you hear me?”

Tears slipped out of Tim’s tightly closed eyes, but he nodded, bracing himself. Then his face was being cradled in warm hands and a soft kiss was pressed to his forehead as Jason murmured, “Good to have you back, Baby Bird. You gave us quite the scare.”

Tim’s eyes popped open and he felt Bruce undo the handcuffs. Tim immediately reached for Jason’s hand and Jason took it, rubbing his thumb over Tim’s knuckles as he explained, “Turns out Crane’s gas wasn’t as much of a dud as we thought, just slow-acting. I went in to wake you up this morning and you were practically comatose. Scared the shit out of us.”

Tim slowly sat up, feeling Jason’s hand on his back to prop him up, and crumpled against Jason, burying his face in Jason’s shoulder as he broke down sobbing. Jason rubbed his back, holding him close, and gently scooted so he could sit on the bed, pulling Tim into his lap. Tim curled into the hold without hesitation, letting Jason’s warmth chase away the cold fear still racing in his veins.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post-angst apology fluff, as per usual.
> 
> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

After checking Tim over, Bruce made it explicitly clear that Tim was not to do anything strenuous or extreme for worry of residual effects, an order that Jason apparently interpreted as including things like _walking_. Jason carried him up to the living room and plopped him down on the couch, ordering, “Keep your skinny little bird butt on that couch, Baby Bird, and find something to watch. I’m gonna go grab your blankets.”

Tim nodded, feeling his heart race as Jason turned to leave, and squeaked, “Can you grab my bracelet, too?”

Jason turned back to press a kiss to Tim’s forehead, replying, “Of course, Baby Bird.”

Then he left and Tim picked up the remote with trembling hands, flipping on the tv and looking through the channels before deciding on a nature documentary. Jason returned with his arms full of blankets and dropped them on top of Tim, then settled beside Tim and took Tim’s left hand, hooking the bracelet around his wrist. Tim snuggled into Jason without hesitation and spread the blankets over them, feeling Jason’s arms loop around his waist. Jason rested his chin on the top of Tim’s head, making Tim feel warm and safe, and Tim stared at the tv, not really absorbing any of it as he tried to remind himself that he was okay, it was just a nightmare, he was warm and safe in Jason’s arms and his parents were in prison. Jason gave him a gentle squeeze suddenly, teasing, “Look, Baby Bird, it’s you!”

Tim snapped back to reality, looking at the screen, where a baby robin was in a nest. Tim couldn’t help but giggle and nestled closer to Jason, then, as his brain tried to drift back to the nightmare, rolled onto his stomach to face Jason, burying his face in Jason’s shoulder and closing his eyes. Jason began playing with his hair, the touch warm and soothing, and Tim focused in on the touch, letting it lull him into a doze. He drifted for a while, catching snippets of the documentary, and finally drifted fully asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim woke up to Jason tapping the back of his head, calling, “Wakey wakey, Baby Bird. It’s time for lunch.”

Tim gave a sleepy grumble and pressed his face deeper into Jason’s chest, unwilling to do things like be awake. Jason laughed softly and poked Tim’s side gently, cajoling, “C’mon, Baby Bird. As cute as it is, you can’t just hide in my shirt all day. Alfie made tortilla soup.”

The mention of Alfred’s tortilla soup was enough to get Tim to lift his face from Jason’s shirt and Jason pressed a kiss to his forehead, teasing fondly, “Who gave you permission to be this adorable, Baby Bird?”

Tim gave a cheeky smile and sassed, “I gave myself permission, thank you very much.”

That made Jason laugh and he prodded Tim’s side gently, ordering, “Up and at ‘em, Baby Bird. Food time.”

Tim slowly got up off of the couch, wrapping his blankets around himself, and made his way towards the dining room, where he found Dick and Clark at the table already, discussing some story Clark was working on. Tim settled into his normal spot between Dick’s and Jason’s seats, half-listening, and Dick reached over to ruffle Tim’s hair, greeting cheerfully, “Hey, Timmy. Heard your first patrol was last night. How’d it go?”

Tim smiled and answered, “Pretty good, aside from an unpleasant run-in with Scarecrow’s gas.”

Dick made a face at that, then stated firmly, “Crane’s gas sucks ass. Last time I ran into it, I ended up hallucinating spiders all over my body and nearly scratched my skin off trying to get rid of them.”

Tim winced in sympathy and confessed, “I hallucinated my parents.”

That made Dick’s face do a weird little twitchy motion and, from behind Tim, Jason suddenly stated, “I now want to kick Crane directly in the nuts twice as much as I did before.”

Tim tipped his head back to look at Jason and reached up, running his fingers through Jason’s hair and promising, “If he gets out again, I’ll happily stay in and let you go out as Robin. Just kick him an extra time for me, okay?”

That made Jason smirk and lean down to kiss Tim’s forehead, answering smugly, “Of course, Baby Bird.”

The rest of lunch passed by quickly as Dick, Jason, and Bruce traded off sharing their stories of weirdness with fights. Tim remembered a number of the fights they mentioned, having photographed them, but there was still a wealth of stories that they had that Tim hadn’t been there for and Tim made a mental note to search for lens-feed videos of the fights. Clark butted in a few times to share some of his own fights, which then sent the discussion spiraling into a _very_ entertaining pissing match of who had been through the weirder fights. Case in point:

“Hey, I got turned into an octopus! An octopus, Clark!”

Dick’s exclamation was followed by Jason snickering, replying, “Sounds like the spell was a dud, then, if it didn’t change anything about you.”

Dick made a face at Jason, flicking a piece of tortilla chip at him, and Jason caught it in his mouth, biting down and shrugging, stating, “I’m just sayin’, Dickwing. You know it’s true.”

Dick threw another tortilla chip at Jason, then turned his attention back to Clark as Clark challenged, “You think an octopus is bad, Dick? I once got turned into a squirrel, but they didn’t take my powers, so I was Super-Squirrel for two days before Zatanna could come turn me back.”

Tim smiled at the thought of a superpowered squirrel, snickering to himself, and Jason decided to toss his own two cents, stating, “I got body-switched with Dick last January. Nearly faceplanted, too, ‘cause Mr. Circus Brat over here was mid-flip when we switched.”

Dick’s eyes widened and he exclaimed, “Oh man, I’d almost forgotten about that! That was weird, especially when I had to go to school as you.”

Tim thought back to the previous January, trying to remember if he had noticed anything off, and slowly said, “That was right before Mr. Freeze got out, right? I remember thinking that Robin looked a lot more acrobatic than usual during that fight.”

Then he paused and added, “Not that you’re not acrobatic, Jay, it’s just that Dick is more flair and performance and you’re more…”

He trailed off, think of the best way to phrase it, and, sounding amused, Jason suggested, “More likely to use a thug’s face as a springboard?”

Tim laughed, answering, “Yeah. That. You like to take them down hard and fast, Dick is more showy with his takedowns.”

That earned Tim a fond look from both Jason and Dick, and Dick reached out to ruffle Tim’s hair again, teasing, “I can’t wait to see how you do takedowns.”

Jason swatted Dick’s hand away from Tim’s head, then replaced it with his own, predicting, “Somethin’ tells me our little Nerd Bird is gonna be more gear-oriented with his takedowns. Though if the lens-feed of him fighting Crane last night is any indicator, he could take after either of us, too. Not gonna lie, it was pretty damn cathartic to see him smack Crane with his own gas canister. Been wantin’ to do that since the first time I met that shitbag.”

Dick grinned broadly, asking eagerly, “You beat Crane using his own canister?”

Tim nodded and Dick gave him a high-five, stating, “I nominate you for patrol with me on Friday, Timmy. I wanna see you in action.”

Jason gave a snort of laughter and announced, “Dickwing, patrol with you always ends up havin’ to fight off you almost as often as havin’ to fight off criminals ‘cause you can’t keep your octo-arms to yourself.”

Dick stuck his tongue out like a child and shot back, “Well, maybe if you would just accept my affection, I wouldn’t have to wrestle you to the ground to hug you.”

Jason flipped Dick off, earning a tired, resigned sigh from Bruce and an exclamation of “Jason!” from Clark, then spat with a surprising amount of anger, “Well, maybe if you’d learn to let me come to you when I want affection instead of trying to force it onto me, I’d be more receptive! Half the time I fight you off even when I want affection ‘cause otherwise you won’t let me be!”

Dick went quiet and Tim slunk down in his seat, hating seeing them fight. Then Dick answered softly, “You’re right. I’m sorry, Jason. I should respect your boundaries. It’s just- I grew up being physically affectionate and I like showing that same affection to the people I care about. Plus I just like physical touch. I get touch-starved easily.”

Jason did a double-take, then, after a moment, stated, “It’s not totally your fault. I shoulda said somethin’ sooner. I don’t- Being grabbed or held without warning was how you got killed on the streets and it always makes me panic, even though I know it’s you.”

Tim kind of felt like he was getting whiplash from how fast the conversation had shifted tones and he glanced at them, glad to see that they had apparently stopped fighting and decided to talk like adults. They both seemed lost in thought and Tim shifted awkwardly, then piped up, “If it helps, Dick, I’m okay with being hugged.”

Dick smiled and reached out to wrap Tim in a hug, answering, “Thanks, Timmy.”

Jason hesitated for a minute, then sighed, “I don’t hate being hugged, Dick, I just- Give me some warning, okay? And let me move away when I want to.”

Dick smiled warmly and held out one arm, bumping fists with Jason and stating, “Deal.”

Then Jason scooted to join the hug and Tim couldn’t help the warmth in his chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After lunch, Dick elected to join Tim and Jason in their tv watching and sprawled across the back of the couch like a giant cat as Tim and Jason cuddled up under the blankets. A documentary about Gotham played in the background, but it was mostly drowned out by Jason and Dick coming up with dumb ideas for villains, an idea brought on by a mention of Calendar Man in the documentary. Tim smiled to himself listening to them laugh, then, after a few rounds, suggested sleepily, “Ketchup King. He sprays his enemies with ketchup.”

That earned him Dick laughing hard enough to nearly fall off the couch and Tim smiled, then yawned despite himself and settled more comfortably on top of Jason, adding, “His sidekick is Mister Mayonnaise.”

Dick fell off the couch and Tim drifted asleep to the sound of him laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, the whole group, Alfred included, gathered together to watch a movie in the screening room before Dick, Jason, and Bruce headed out on patrol. Jason, Tim, and Dick had cuddled together on the couch, with Alfred in the nearby armchair and Bruce and Clark on the loveseat, and Tim had just gotten comfortable when his bladder made its presence known. He groaned, but detangled himself from Jason and Dick, slinking out of the room. He did his business quickly, then started back towards the screening room when a knock came at the door. The knock surprised Tim and he wandered over, peeking through the peephole to see the porch empty. After a moment of internal debate, he opened the door and froze as his eyes fell on the child standing outside it with a backpack. The child, a boy maybe 7 or 8 years old, was dressed in odd, loose black clothing, like a ninja from a movie, but that wasn’t what threw Tim off. No, what threw him off was the boy’s face.

The boy looked like Bruce.

And so, Tim, unsure of what else to do, turned back into the house and shouted, “BRUCE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild Damian has appeared! He was actually supposed to arrive in the last chapter, but the writing goblin had other plans, so you get him now instead. Also, kudos to anyone who noticed my thinly veiled reference to who is, in my personal opinion, the dumbest and therefore best villain in DC history.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim tries his best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken me so long to update, school is kinda killing me right now. 
> 
> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

The boy’s name was Damian al Ghul, he was 8 years old, and, if the look on Bruce’s face after running the paternity test was any indication, he was, in fact, Bruce’s biological son. Damian had a look on his face that Tim recognized as barely concealed fear and, after a moment of hesitation, Tim introduced, “I’m Tim Drake. It’s nice to meet you.”

Damian snapped his head to fix his green eyes on Tim and Tim barely prevented himself from flinching when Damian spat, “I care not who you are. Why are you in my father’s house?”

Jason frowned at that and shot back, “Hey, cool your shit, brat. He fuckin’ lives here and you won’t be a douche about it if you know what’s good for you.”

Damian flinched almost imperceptibly and Tim was certain that the only reason he had noticed it was because he was looking for it. The flinch was enough confirmation for Tim that Damian had been, at the very least, in a bad situation and Tim elbowed Jason lightly, shooting a scolding look at Jason when Jason looked at him in confusion. Damian scowled at them and Tim stated easily, “Ignore Jason, he’s just protective.”

Damian scoffed, then turned to face Bruce fully, though Tim noticed him keeping a careful eye on Jason. Jason looked bewildered and Tim grabbed his wrist, gently dragging him out of the living room. As soon as they were out of Damian’s hearing, Jason asked, “What was that about, Baby Bird? The kid acted like a brat and you just ignored it. Normally you’d at least tell him to shut it.”

Tim rubbed his eyes tiredly, wondering if he should tell Jason, then answered, “Jay, the kid is clearly terrified to be here and is putting on a show so he doesn’t come across as vulnerable. He’s in a strange house with strange people, one of whom is a father who didn’t know he existed until twenty minutes ago. And… And I get the sense that his previous situation wasn’t great. He’s probably freaking the fuck out on the inside and trying to hide it behind being an asshole.”

Jason’s eyes widened and a look of guilt flickered across his face before he closed his eyes, muttering, “Well, I fucked that up, didn’t I? Shit, I should’ve known that. I was exactly the same when I first got here.”

Tim held out his arms, allowing Jason to step into the hug, and stood on his tiptoes to rest his chin on Jason’s shoulder, stating, “Just apologize and give him some space. He’ll probably chill out once he feels safe here.”

Jason sighed, but kissed Tim’s cheek and teased lightly, “When did you get so smart, Baby Bird?”

Tim just smiled and walked back into the living room, curling up in one of the armchairs and bundling himself in the blankets. Damian looked at him like he was the scum of the Earth, but Tim was used to those looks from his parents and other kids at school and, at least in the case of classmates, used to ignoring them. Moments later, Jason followed, pausing by Tim’s chair and looking at the armchair Damian was stiffly perched in before sighing and apologizing, “Sorry I snapped at you, kid. I shouldn’t’ve done that.”

Damian didn’t respond, just gave Jason a look of disgust before fixing his eyes on where Bruce was sitting on the couch, reading the letter that Damian had brought from his mother. Jason sighed again, then nudged Tim and huffed, “Budge up, Baby Bird, I wanna sit with you.”

Tim rolled his eyes and squished himself to one side, creating a space just big enough for Jason to squeeze into. Jason snorted and settled into the gap, stealing some of Tim’s blankets to wrap around himself. Tim sighed, but allowed it, flopping against Jason and melodramatically griping, “Haven’t you ever heard of personal space, Jay?”

Jason’s face fell slightly and, voice serious, he asked, “Want me to move, Baby Bird?”

Confusion flashed through Tim’s brain for a second before he realized how his joke must have come across. Tim immediately squeezed Jason’s hand, soothing, “That was a bad joke. Sorry, I didn’t think about how that might have come across. I like you here.”

Some of the tension fell from Jason’s shoulders and Tim snuggled into him, careful to not look directly at Damian. Damian looked like he would rather be dead than be sitting in the living room and, after several long seconds, Bruce crumpled the letter up, breath hissing out between his teeth, and growled, “8 years. She kept you with the League for _8 years_.”

Dick looked up from his position on the couch, face flickering through a rapid series of expressions before finally settling on horror as he hissed, “The League? As in the League of Assassins?”

Bruce said nothing, which was almost as telling as if he had, and Dick’s face gave a weird little twitch before he took a deep breath and, voice strained, growled, “Bruce. Please, please, _please_ tell me that you did not have sex with who I think you had sex with.”

Bruce turned to look Dick in the face and calmly stated, “I didn’t have sex with who you think I had sex with. Talia al Ghul used stolen DNA to grow Damian in an artificial womb.”

Clark looked baffled, looking between the two, and Tim cleared his throat as Damian’s stomach grumbled. Bruce looked at him and Tim rolled his eyes, then nodded at Damian and made the sign for ‘food’. Bruce looked confused for a split second before Damian’s stomach growled again and Bruce asked, “Damian, would you like something to eat?”

Damian looked suspicious and, to the surprise of everyone in the room, shook his head. Bruce opened his mouth to press the issue, but Jason gave a quick flurry of ASL that was too fast for Tim to follow and Bruce backed off, stating, “Very well. The kitchen is open if you get hungry later.”

Somewhere deep in the house, a clock chimed and Bruce glanced at his watch, then stood and announced, “Damian, Alfred has made up the room beside Tim’s for you. I’m sure Tim will be happy to show you to it. I have to head out, but I will see you in the morning.”

Jason groaned, but stood, bending down to kiss Tim’s forehead and stating, “Get some sleep, Baby Bird. Goodnight.”

Tim stood as well, balling his blankets up and answering, “Be safe, Jay. I want you back in the same condition you left in.”

Jason followed Bruce out as Dick and Clark bade them goodnight, then Tim and Damian were alone. Damian scowled at Tim, but Tim ignored it, stating, “Your room is this way.”

For a second, Tim thought Damian was going to ignore him. Then Damian stood, picking up his backpack, and followed Tim out of the room. The silence was uncomfortable and Tim fidgeted with his bracelet awkwardly. The soft clinking of the charms drew Damian’s attention and he instantly dropped into a defensive crouch, baring his teeth in a snarl as he growled, “Are you one of the tests Mother warned me of?”

Tim flinched back at the sudden attitude shift and held his hands up placatingly, answering, “No?”

Damian’s eyes flickered to Tim’s bracelet and he slowly relaxed from his stance, asking, “Why do you wear women’s jewelry?”

Tim looked at his bracelet, and, hoping Damian wouldn’t attack him for it, lowered his hands to play with the charms again, musing, “I don’t know. I just like it. Does it matter?”

“Yes. Are you not harassed or reprimanded for it?”

Tim glanced over at Damian, then shrugged and answered, “Not really. My parents would’ve killed me if they’d known about it, but they’re in prison, so they don’t get a say anymore. A few kids have given me crap for it at school, but they’re jerks anyway. Most people don’t care. It’s not like it’s hurting anyone.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed and he pressed, “But you are a boy. And you are wearing women’s jewelry.”

Tim turned to look fully at Damian, a little peeved at the accusing tone and harping about it being women’s jewelry, then tilted his chin up and asked sharply, “What the hell do you care? So I want to wear jewelry, what of it? It’s pretty and I like playing with the charms. If someone has an issue with it, that’s their problem, not mine.”

Damian flinched back at Tim’s harsh tone and Tim silently cursed himself, apologizing, “Sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped.”

Damian’s scowl deepened and he crossed his arms, looking away. Tim sighed as they reached Damian’s room and Damian entered silently, closing the door in Tim’s face when Tim tried to bid him goodnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At around three in the morning, Tim woke up to his stomach grumbling loudly and insistently. He rolled onto his belly and buried his face in his pillow with a whine, not wanting to get up. His stomach’s insistence on food, however, finally won over his sleepiness and he stumbled out of bed, bundling himself in blankets against the air conditioning’s wind. He shuffled his way down to the kitchen and rifled through the pantry, finally emerging with a box of Cheez-Its clutched to his chest only to find Damian standing at the counter, a scowl on his face. Tim nearly jumped out of his skin, but, after several long seconds, held up the box and asked, “Want some?”

Damian narrowed his eyes further and Tim grabbed a bowl from the cabinet, pouring some in and setting the box on the counter. He dropped a few of the crackers into his mouth, then offered the bowl to Damian. After several long, tense seconds, Damian took one and nibbled on the corner. He made a weird face, but ate the whole cracker nonetheless.

“This is revolting.”

Tim couldn’t help his smile, answering, “Yeah, they are kind of gross. But they’re also really satisfying to eat for some reason. There’s other snacks in the pantry if you want them, though.”

Damian looked at Tim suspiciously and Tim hopped up on the bar stool, swinging his legs lazily and eating his Cheez-Its. Damian watched him carefully, but made his way to the pantry, looking through it. After a few minutes, he retreated from the pantry with a disgruntled look on his face. Tim tipped his head curiously and, after a minute, asked, “Not see anything that catches your attention?”

Damian opened his mouth, then closed it and looked away, admitting haltingly, “I do not- Many of these foods are… unknown to me.”

“Then we should try all of them. That way you know which ones you like or dislike.”

Damian looked stunned at Tim’s easy reply and Tim hopped up from his stool, walking over to the pantry and retrieving several of his favorite snack foods. He laid them out on the counter and gestured to them, stating, “These are my personal favorites. Though Jason is also fond of salt and vinegar chips and Dick likes cereal.”

Damian shifted awkwardly as Tim opened the bag of pretzels, but accepted one when Tim handed it to him, putting it in his mouth after Tim did. He seemed to enjoy it and Tim made a mental note of that, then continued down the line of snacks, noting which ones Damian enjoyed and which ones caused him to make faces. Finally, after introducing Damian to all the snacks they had in the pantry, Tim asked, “Find any you liked?”

Damian hesitated, then, unsurely, like he was afraid to answer wrong, replied unsurely, “The dried fruits were… enjoyable.”

Tim smiled and picked up the bag of dried fruits, holding it out to Damian. Damian took it hesitantly, then backed away to sit at the small table in the corner. The air grew tense again and, out of nowhere, Tim felt his anxiety growing, tired mind flickering back to his drug-dream. Panic started stirring in his gut and Tim ate a few more Cheez-Its, the crunch of them doing little to help his rising anxiety. He could feel Damian’s eyes on him and reached for his bracelet, but found his wrist empty, which sent his brain into a panicked scramble of _Where the fuck is it_ and made his stomach roil with building fear. The thought flickered through Tim’s head that his panic seemed to be coming from nowhere and hitting him harder than it normally would, but that thought was quickly buried under mounting terror as his brain started flickering between memory and reality. His breath rattled in his lungs and, as he tried desperately to calm himself, a memory hit him like a train, sending him toppling off of the stool as he scrambled to get away, get somewhere safe. His logical mind knew that he was safe, but panic overrode logic and, what felt like moments later, Tim found himself curled up in a dark closet amid boots and coats, with his head between his knees and his hands clenched in his hair. His breaths were coming too fast and he could distantly feel tears streaming down his cheeks, but those were secondary to the warm, sticky liquid he could feel on his hands. He heard fast, heavy footsteps coming towards the closet and stuffed his fist in his mouth to silence his breathing, brain looping through every memory he had of hiding in his closet to avoid Jack’s wrath. He could taste blood on his tongue and everything started getting hazy at the edges. The door was wrenched open and all Tim could see was one big black boot before his vision went black and he passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim woke up to Jason’s face over his, looking worried. He was laying in the living room, on the couch, and, tilting his head, he could see Bruce talking to Damian. Then Jason was filling his vision completely, cradling Tim’s face in his hands and asking, “You okay, Baby Bird?”

Tim blinked, then, voice raspy, answered, “I’m alright. What- What happened?”

Jason sighed sadly and gently brushed Tim’s hair out of his eyes, answering, “Turns out that Crane’s shit was still in your system.”

Tim leaned into Jason’s touch and closed his eyes, feeling worn-out from his panic. Then Jason was gently tapping his cheek, scolding, “Eyes open, Baby Bird. No passing out until B checks you over.”

Tim whined, wanting nothing more than to sleep, but pried his eyes open and stared up at Jason. He reached to grab Jason’s hand, but his hand felt clumsy and heavy, with a dull pain layered under numbness. He lifted his hand to look at it, finding it wrapped in gauze, and Jason caught his wrist gently, pressing a soft kiss to his exposed fingertips and stating, “According to Damian, you dropped a bowl and then slammed your hand down onto it while you were trying to stand up. We had to give you 11 stitches, Baby Bird.”

Tim tried to wrap his numb fingers around Jason’s hand, but the bandages and numbness made it nearly impossible and Tim finally just reached up with his unbandaged hand, dragging Jason’s hand in and tucking it against his chest like a stuffed animal. His eyes started to flutter closed again, but he forced them back open as Jason tapped his cheek. Jason leaned down to kiss his forehead gently, then called, “B, get your butt over here before Tim falls back asleep.”

Bruce approached and checked Tim’s pupils, then asked Tim a bunch of questions and checked his phone for the blood test results before finally, finally, stating, “You can go to bed now, Tim.”

As soon as he was cleared, Tim curled into Jason and closed his eyes. He heard Jason laugh, then he was being picked up and gently cradled to Jason’s chest. He could tell Jason was walking, but sleep was tugging at his brain and he barely remained awake long enough to feel Jason lower him onto a mattress before he was sinking into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim and Damian get closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for how long this has taken me to post. Things have been pretty busy recently and I haven't had much time to work on it.
> 
> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

Tim woke up in Jason’s bed, with Jason curled up against his back and Dick against Jason’s with one arm draped over the both of them, to the sound of someone moving something heavy. He slowly cracked an eye open, wondering who was moving, and his eyes fell onto Damian, who was settling into the wooden chair he had moved to the side of the bed, watching Tim, Dick, and Jason carefully. He was tense and, as Tim shifted sleepily, Damian stated softly, “You may sleep, Drake. I will keep watch for danger.”

Tim started to sit up, but Jason’s arms tightened around him and Jason nuzzled the back of his head, mumbling, “S’kay, Baby Bird. Y’re safe.”

Tim smiled despite himself, then reached out to pat the mattress, inviting, “Come sit with us, Damian.”

Damian’s eyebrows furrowed and he hesitated, then queried, “Is this not an adequate spot from which to observe the doors and windows? Is there an entrance which I have overlooked?”

Tim felt his chest tighten a little, but answered, “No, but that chair looks pretty uncomfortable. You can still see everything from the mattress, plus you’ll be more comfortable.”

Damian looked away from Tim, then, almost like he was trying to convince himself, answered, “I have been trained to withstand all kinds of torture. An uncomfortable chair is trivial.”

“So? Why make yourself more uncomfortable than you have to be?”

Damian started to curl in on himself shyly, then flinched slightly and straightened his back, stating, “I neither need nor deserve comfort following my earlier failing.”

Tim frowned and gently moved Jason’s arm so he could sit up, asking, “Failing?”

“I failed to protect you from harm. Father cares for you and I failed him by allowing you to be harmed under my watch. He has refused to punish me, so I will punish myself.”

Bile rose in Tim’s throat, but he swallowed it back, arguing, “Damian, you didn’t fail anything. I got gassed with a substance that causes fear and hallucinations the night before last and it hadn’t worked its way out of my system. I would have freaked out no matter who was there; that’s just the way it goes. If anyone is at fault, it’s me. I was the one who didn’t say anything to anyone even though I was feeling off and then forgot my bracelet. Not that my bracelet would’ve really helped, but still. I was feeling weird and didn’t say anything. That’s not your fault and you shouldn’t be punished when you did absolutely nothing wrong.”

Damian looked ready to argue, but a sleepy noise from Dick had him snapping his mouth closed and going rigid. Dick tightened his grip around Jason’s waist and Tim’s knee, then lifted his head from the pillow and asked sleepily, “Tim? Wha’s goin’ on?”

Tim reached out to pat Dick’s shoulder and answered, “Go back to sleep, Dick. I’m just talking with Damian.”

Dick hummed and slowly sat up, giving Damian a sleepy smile and patting the mattress, offering, “Come join us. There’s plenty of room.”

Damian hesitated, eyes darting towards the door like he was considering running, then slowly scooted out of the chair and onto the mattress. He settled a foot or so from Tim, whole body drawn taut like he expected to be reprimanded for it at any second. Dick yawned widely, jaw cracking, then laid back down, curling back against Jason’s back. He prodded Tim’s knee, sleepily ordering, “Lay back down, Timmy. Jay needs a cuddle buddy.”

Tim rolled his eyes fondly, but obeyed, settling down on his side with his back to Jason’s chest. In a heartbeat, Jason’s arms were around his waist, tugging him close as Jason buried his face in Tim’s hair. Tim giggled and squirmed until he was comfortable, then closed his eyes and basked in the coziness, finally drifting asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim woke up squished between Jason and Damian. Jason was at his back, face pressed into Tim’s long hair, and Damian had shifted at some point, laying down and curling up against Tim’s chest. Dick’s arm was draped over Tim’s side, hand hanging over onto Damian, and Tim couldn’t help his smile as he nestled in, pleased that Damian felt safe enough to curl up with them. He heard movement from the doorway, then the artificial shutter click of a phone camera. The phone clicked a second time and Damian jerked up, body tensed for an attack. Tim lifted his head to see Bruce standing in the doorway in a suit with a small, fond smile on his face, then yawned and slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Jason grumbled sleepily at Tim’s movement and, after a few unsuccessful attempts to pull Tim back to his chest, sat up and yawned, asking, “Wha’s goin’ on?”

Bruce smiled a little wider and stated, “Well, today is my quarterly tour of Wayne Enterprises’ labs, as well as Bring Your Kids To Work Day. I was wondering if any of you would be interested in joining me.”

Tim sat bolt upright at that, excitement wiping any traces of sleepiness from his brain, and asked, “What should I wear?”

Damian looked interested as well and Bruce answered, “Business casual. Anyone else interested in going?”

After a moment of hesitation, Damian answered, “I will attend as well.”

Jason yawned, then sighed, “I’ll pass. I’d rather stay home and read.”

Dick said nothing, clearly still out cold, and Bruce shrugged, asking, “Can you two be ready in thirty minutes?”

Tim and Damian both nodded and Bruce left the room. Damian clambered out of the bed and left the room as well, Tim following suit moments later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The tour of the labs was practically a wet dream for Tim, who spent the whole time soaking in every drop of information that he could get his hands on, earning amused looks from the lab techs and scientists. Damian seemed mostly uninterested in the science, but Tim couldn’t help noticing how his gaze lingered on the art in the hallways and how he tapped his fingers along with the elevator music. Once the tour was finished and they were walking to the exit, Tim suddenly blurted, “Hey, Damian, what are some of your hobbies?”

Damian looked startled by the question and, after several long moments of hesitation, answered, “I enjoy training.”

Tim raised an eyebrow and gently prompted, “Anything else?”

Damian opened his mouth, then closed it, looking at Bruce’s back, Tim’s bracelet, back at Bruce, then at the floor as, as if confessing some sort of horrible secret, he whispered, “I enjoy drawing. And music.”

Tim smiled, chirping, “That’s neat. Do you play any instruments?”

Damian looked up in surprise, then answered, “I have taught myself to play a number of instruments.”

Tim nodded along and, apparently encouraged by Tim’s lack of negative reaction, Damian continued, “I am quite proficient in violin, piano, flute, and harp.”

Bruce turned at that, stating lightly, “My mother taught me to play piano. We should play together sometime.”

Damian’s cheeks flushed and, after a moment, he answered, “That would be… enjoyable.”

Bruce gave Damian a small, sincere smile and Tim internally cheered when Damian gave a hesitant smile back. Then Bruce was talking about music things, making Damian perk up, and Tim tuned them out, since he knew next to nothing about music beyond the kinds that he liked. He was so tuned out, in fact, that he didn’t even realized that they had stopped walking until he ran into Bruce’s back. He blinked rapidly, then peered around Bruce’s side, eyes locking onto the group of masked men in black with guns in their hands. The leader of the group lifted his gun to point it at Bruce, stating mockingly, “The man of the hour, Bruce Wayne! And look at that, he’s got his little boys with him, too. Tell you what, Wayne. I’m in a good mood, so if you and the brats come quietly, we won’t hurt you too badly.”

Bruce tensed and grabbed Damian’s shoulder as Damian started forward, then answered, “Let my sons go. Whatever you want, my boys don’t need to be involved.”

The leader scoffed and answered, “Sorry, Brucie, but the boss wants your brats, too. Or at least the Drake kid.”

Tim took several deep, steadying breaths and the leader stepped forward. As soon as he was close enough, however, Damian lunged for him, pulling a knife from somewhere on his person and jabbing it into the man’s abdomen with a snarl. The man howled in pain and swung his rifle around, smashing it into the side of Damian’s skull. Damian let out a cry of pain and toppled sideways, then started to scramble to his feet. The man pointed the rifle at Damian, clutching his bleeding stomach, and snarled, “Boss doesn’t give two shits about if I kill you, you fucking psycho.”

Without even thinking, Tim darted forward, moving to stand between the muzzle of the gun and Damian. Damian made a protesting noise, but Tim was filled with too much protective rage to feel fear as he tipped his chin up and goaded, “If you want to kill him, you’ll have to go through me first.”

The man didn’t lower his gun for a few seconds, but finally lowered it to point it at Tim’s knee, ordering, “Tie the little shits together, since they're so fond of each other. And tie up Wayne, too.”

Damian snarled and tried to bite the man who approached with chains, but his efforts were futile and Tim, Damian, and Bruce soon found themselves being loaded into the back of a windowless black van.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The past comes back to bite Tim.
> 
> Luckily for Tim, he can bite harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VERY VERY IMPORTANT TRIGGER WARNING: The first part of this chapter includes a semi-graphic scene of torture of a child, as well as references to pedophilia and general creepiness. As with the chapters in Fast Friendships, if you want to skip that part, skip the part between the asterisks. Thank you and take care of yourselves please. 
> 
> On a lighter note, the second half is much fluffier.
> 
> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

***

The van drove for what felt like years, every sharp turn and short stop slamming Tim into the van wall and slamming Damian into Tim. By the time the van stopped moving and the doors were thrown open to reveal the night sky, Tim was aching all over, bruises forming across his body. He couldn’t help but feel relieved, however, to see that Damian appeared unharmed aside from the bruise forming on the side of his head where the kidnapper had hit him with the rifle. Bruce’s eyes were filled with rage, but he kept his mouth shut and his jaw clenched as the trio were dragged into a warehouse. The chains binding Tim and Damian were unwrapped, then the kidnappers bound their wrists in manacles and hooked the manacles to a beam hanging from the ceiling. A board balanced on cinderblocks was the only thing keeping them from hanging by their wrists and Tim tried to hold back his fear, praying that Bruce had used his distress signal. Damian snarled at the kidnappers and spat, “When I get free, I will strip the skin from your bones, you filthy ingrates.”

The kidnappers ignored him and Damian continued cursing them out until an uncomfortably familiar voice tutted, “Now, now, that’s quite rude, now isn’t it? Goodness me, Bruce, how _do_ you raise your children? A circus brat, a street rat, and now this? It’s a good thing I’ll be taking darling Timothy before you and your degenerate spawn can ruin him.”

Tim felt bile rise in his throat as Preston Dupont, a work associate of his parents and a Grade-A creep, emerged from the shadows like some sort of nightmare, dressed in a fancy pressed suit and with his graying hair slicked back against his skull. Damian snarled, but Bruce just tilted his head and asked, “And you are?”

Preston made his way towards Tim, making Tim’s heart race as he tried not to show his fear, and reached up to caress Tim’s cheek as he answered, “My name, Bruce, is Preston Dupont. And our sweet, precious little Timothy will be mine again quite soon. In _every_ way.”

His moved his thumb to rest it against Tim’s lower lip and, panic and rage burning in his veins like poison, Tim did the only thing he could think of.

He bit Preston’s thumb as hard as he could.

The coppery tang of blood coated his tongue as his teeth cut through flesh and Preston let out a yell of pain, slapping Tim and yanking his hand away when Tim released it. Then, rage burning in his eyes, he kicked the board out from under Tim and Damian, making Tim cry out and Damian grimace as their arms were wrenched above their heads. Tim felt blood dripping down his wrists as the manacles cut through the thin skin and he took a deep breath, twisting his hands to grab the chains and pull himself up slightly to take the weight off of his wrists. Damian followed suit and Preston straightened up, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapping it around his bleeding thumb as he stated coldly, “I see Bruce has already started to corrupt you. Not to worry, some strict discipline will make you right back into the obedient little lamb I want.”

Tim bared his bloody teeth in a snarl and, channeling his inner Damian, hissed, “If you touch me, I will make you eat your fucking liver, you goddamned creep.”

Preston gave Tim an imperious look that would have made Tim cower and beg for forgiveness in prior times, but now just made Tim feel even more angry and belligerent. Then Preston turned to where one of his lackies had brought in a rolling cart, picking up a collar from it. He approached Tim and Tim tried to kick him, but his aim was off and he just barely clipped Preston’s side. Then the collar was around Tim’s neck and Preston was pressing a button on a remote. Electricity coursed through Tim and he screamed, writhing and squirming as he tried to breathe past the pain. As the shock stopped and his hearing started to filter back in, Tim could hear Damian swearing on a blue streak, threats and bits of Arabic mixed in. Bruce’s face was ashen and he was straining against his bindings, shouting, “What the Hell is wrong with you, you psycho?”

Preston ignored Bruce, instead walking over to Damian, who was squirming violently and trying to escape his bindings even as he cursed. Preston reached towards Damian and, protective anger overwhelming his fear and pain, Tim shouted, “Stay the fuck away from him!”

Electricity coursed through him again and the world went black around the edges. The shock gave him an idea and, as the world came back into focus, he goaded, “Is that the worst you’ve got, coward? It’ll take more than that to break me!”

Another shock coursed through his body and he tensed once, twice, three times, then went completely limp, letting his grip on the chains slip and holding his breath to make it look like he wasn’t breathing. It took a few seconds, then he heard Preston curse under his breath and order, “Get him down and make sure he’s still breathing. I want him alive, understood?”

Tim heard Bruce cursing out Preston and Damian had switched to completely Arabic, shouting and raving as Tim was unchained and lowered to the floor. The manacles were removed completely, then a hand touched his wrist and Tim opened his eyes, grabbing the hand and using a move Dick had shown him to flip the man onto the floor with a thud. Preston eyes blazed with anger and he reached for the collar’s remote, but the action was made futile as Tim yanked the collar off of his neck and threw it to the floor, spitting, “I will never be yours, you sick piece of shit.”

***

Preston opened his mouth, but the sound of shattering glass interrupted him and, a half-second later, Nightwing descended like an avenging angel in blue and black, Robin just behind him. They landed on the concrete and, without missing a beat, Robin threw himself at Preston, all fists and fury. Nightwing rushed to deal with the lackies Preston had hired and Tim bolted to where Damian was, grabbing the key from the lackey on the floor and scrambling up on the cinderblocks to unlock Damian’s manacles. Damian dropped to the floor lightly and, just as Preston tried to take a step back to avoid Robin’s fist, Damian charged forward, snapping out a kick to Preston’s knees that sent the man crashing to the floor. Robin grinned viciously and stated, “I like your style, kid.”

Damian smirked back and Tim turned away as the pair expressed their displeasure with Preston, hurrying to pick the locks on Bruce’s chains. As soon as the chains were undone, Bruce was reaching out to Tim, asking quietly, “Are you hurt, Tim?”

Tim shrugged, answering, “Nothing too serious.”

Bruce nodded and slowly got up, walking over to where Preston was laying on the floor. Robin and Damian both stepped back to give Bruce space and Bruce leaned down to stare into Preston’s eyes, then growled, “Don’t ever touch my kids again.”

Preston opened his mouth, but a well-placed kick to the side of his head shut him up and Bruce looked around at the unconscious lackies littering the floor. Robin immediately rushed forward to Tim, running his gloved hands over Tim’s arms and face as he fussed over Tim. Tim melted into the touch as Bruce checked on Damian and Nightwing stated softly, “We should head home. Police are on their way.”

Tim nodded and the group walked out to where the Batmobile was parked, piling in. Tim fiddled with his bracelet, relief filling his chest when he realized that none of the charms were damaged, and slumped against Robin’s side, exhaustion filling him. They pulled into the Cave in record time and Jason immediately ducked into the locker rooms to change, emerging moments later in sweats and a t-shirt. He rushed to Tim as Tim flopped down on one of the cots in the infirmary and Tim melted into him the second Jason’s hands were on him, wanting nothing more than to sleep until nothing hurt anymore. Then a small, warm body was pressed to his side and Damian stated, “Father tells me that you are injured, Drake.”

Tim shrugged and answered, “Cuts and bruises. I mostly just want to sleep.”

Jason kissed his forehead gently and answered, “Once we get you bandaged up, you can go to bed.”

Tim nodded and Jason pulled back, retrieving bandages and antiseptic from the cabinets. He made quick work of cleaning and bandaging Tim’s cuts, then ran his fingers through Tim’s hair and ordered gently, “Up to bed with you, Baby Bird. I’ll be up in a few minutes to cuddle with you until I have to leave for patrol. Damian, it’s your turn for medical attention.”

Tim started up the Cave stairs, then froze when Damian asked, “Todd, are you and Drake… courting?”

There was a beat of silence, then Jason answered, “If you mean dating, yeah. We’ve been together since December. Why?”

“Is Father aware?”

“If he isn’t, he _really_ doesn’t deserve the title of World’s Greatest Detective. Again, why?”

“And he has said nothing against you being with another man?”

Jason laughed at that, then replied, “Kid, B would be the biggest hypocrite in the world if he gave me crap for dating a guy.”

Silence filled the Cave and, after a few moments, Damian asked, “So it is… acceptable, for two men to be with one another romantically?”

Jason was silent for a second, then stated, “Yeah, it is. Some people… Some people are gonna be douches about it and tell you it’s wrong and bad, but they’re full of shit. As long as everyone involved in the relationship is happy and consenting, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

The conversation went silent and Tim hurried up the stairs, bolting to his room and throwing on his pajamas. He crawled into his bed and burrowed into his blankets, getting comfy and letting sleep start to tug at him. Then the door opened and Damian entered, dressed in a pair of silk pajamas. He looked uncertain, but quietly asked, “Would it be acceptable for me to join you in here for the night? I would like- It would be advantageous for your protection if I remained in a relatively close proximity.”

Tim smiled sleepily and wiggled one arm free of his blankets, patting the mattress and mumbling, “Hop on up, get comfy. We can protect one another for the night.”

Damian looked relieved and clambered up on the bed, settling in. Silence reigned for a few moments, then the door opened again and Jason was climbing into the bed, wrapping Tim up in a tight hug and rubbing his face into Tim’s hair. Tim nestled into him with a pleased sigh and let his eyes flutter closed as sleep tugged at him. Jason pressed soft kisses to Tim’s head, then whispered, “Sleep well, Baby Bird. And you too, Baby Bat. You both deserve some rest.”

Tim let out a contented noise, then allowed himself sink into the sweet oblivion of sleep even as he heard Dick’s voice from the doorway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim woke up screaming, phantom shocks racing through his body. His heart was beating so fast that it hurt and he sat bolt upright, curling into a ball and burying his face in his knees as he tried to remind himself that he was safe, he was okay. Then Damian’s soft voice asked, “Drake, may I touch you?”

Tim nodded and felt one of Damian’s skinny arms wrap around his shoulders as Damian stated awkwardly, “I am aware that I am not Todd or Grayson, but I hope that my presence can help provide you with some sense of assuredness that you are safe.”

Tim leaned into the touch despite himself, using it to ground himself, then answered softly, “It helps a lot, Damian. Thank you. I’m sorry I woke you up.”

Damian was silent for a moment before he replied, “It is forgiven, Drake. Is there any way in which I can help you?”

Tim smiled and slowly laid back down, stating, “You already have. Thank you.”

Damian looked pleased and Tim finally pulled away, laying back down and settling into the blankets to try to get more sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations and chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains discussions of pedophilia and general grossness. If you want to skip that part, skip the part between the asterisks. Thank you and take care of yourselves please.
> 
> But, much like last chapter, it is followed by unrelenting fluff and goofiness.
> 
> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

It took three days for Jason to bring it up.

“Hey, Baby Bird, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”

Tim looked up from where he was going over case notes with Barbara, anxiety bubbling in his gut, but stood, following Jason into his bedroom. Jason pulled Tim to sit on the bed and Tim settled down with mounting dread, asking, “What is it, Jay? Is something wrong?”

Jason bit his lip, like he was considering things, then, finally, took a deep breath and blurted, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Baby Bird, but… I watched the security footage of what that sick fuck did. And- And he said… He said you were going to be his again. What… What did he mean, again?”

***

Tim closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath, trying to fight back the memories that wanted to surface, then reached out for Jason’s hands blindly to ground himself. Jason took his hands, rubbing his thumbs along Tim’s knuckles soothingly, and Tim started, “He- He was a business associate of my parents. And one night, when I was 8, he came over for dinner while he and my parents were working on a deal and he- He put a stipulation in the deal, that- that… He told my parents that he wouldn’t agree to the deal unless they let him…”

Tears slipped down Tim’s cheeks and he curled into a ball, unable to meet Jason’s eyes as he whispered, “He wouldn’t agree unless they let him have sex with me. And the deal was important, so they… They told me to take him up to the guest room and do whatever he told me to do. I didn’t- I didn’t know any better and I was too scared of them to disobey, so I… I did it. And then the deal went through, so I thought that was it, that it was over, but he kept- Every time my parents wanted to make a deal with him, he demanded that I- that I let him do it, and my parents kept agreeing and then they’d beat me afterwards for letting him and-”.

Tim cut himself off with a strangled sob and he curled tighter into a ball, babbling, “I’m sorry, I know I’m disgusting and worthless and that I should’ve said something or not let him or-”

“Is it okay if I touch you, Baby Bird?”

Tim nodded despite himself, half-expecting Jason to push him away and tell him that he was disgusting, and found himself wrapped in a warm hug and Jason rubbed his back gently, murmuring, “Tim, Baby Bird, you are not disgustin’ or worthless or anythin’ else that they may have made you think and what happened to you is not in any way, shape, or form your fault. You were a kid in a really, really fuckin’ shitty situation and you are not to blame for any of the shit they did to you, okay?”

Tim buried his face in Jason’s shoulder, body shaking with sobs, and Jason held him tighter, mumbling soothingly until Tim finally ran out of tears and pulled back, scrubbing at his cheeks. Jason looked like he wanted to say something, but all he did was lean in to press a kiss to Tim’s head, mumbling, “I’m so sorry, Baby Bird.”

Tim curled back into Jason and, after a few moments of silence, whispered, “Promise you won’t tell anyone? I don’t- I don’t want them to look at me differently.”

Jason tightened his grip on Tim, the warm, safe hold helping ground Tim and make him feel less like he was falling apart at the seams, and answered, “I won’t say a word. But they won’t look at you differently, Baby Bird, I promise.”

Tim looked up at Jason doubtfully and Jason hesitated, then kissed the top of Tim’s head again and confessed, “When I was livin’ on the streets, I- I did stuff, stuff that I’m not proud of, that I didn’t want to do, to survive. I jacked cars, I ran drugs, I stole, and I… I hooked a few times. Rich older men, mostly. I was so fuckin’ scared when B took me in, ‘cause I thought- I thought all men were like that. I thought they all wanted to- to do that to me. I spent the first six months convinced that he was gonna- gonna come into my room at night and… y’know. And then one of the guys who had- who had paid me when I was on the streets was at one of B’s parties and I recognized him and had a panic attack and told B about it. He was so mad and I- I thought he was gonna kick me out or somethin’ ‘cause I was technically a criminal, but he wasn’t mad at me. He went out that night and dug up enough dirt to get the guy like 90 years in prison for embezzlement, rape, bribery, and like five other things.”

Tim squished himself closer to Jason, wrapping his arms around Jason as he felt hot tears drip down into his hair and whispering, “I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have been put through that, Jay.”

Jason gave Tim a squeeze and let out a sad laugh, stating, “It’s the past, Baby Bird. It sucks ass, but I’ve made my peace with it.”

Tim gave him a reproachful look and answered, “Still. I’m sorry.”

***

Jason gave Tim a soft smile and leaned down to kiss the tip of Tim’s nose gently, making Tim wrinkle it at him. They sat in warm, comfortable silence for a few long seconds, then, just as Tim’s eyes started to get heavy, Jason suggested lightly, “We should go see if we can convince Dick to take us out for ice cream. It could be our reward for talking like adults.”

Tim giggled and rested his head against Jason’s chest sleepily, answering, “I was thinking we should go to the history museum and see that new exhibit on Gotham’s heroes.”

Jason laughed, running his fingers through Tim’s hair, and teased, “And who says we can’t do both, Baby Bird? We can get ice cream on the way there.”

Tim nodded sagely against Jason’s chest even as his eyes closed against his will and gave a wide yawn, then snuggled closer and mumbled, “Sounds like a plan.”

Jason slowly laid down, keeping Tim tucked against his chest, and joked, “We’ll enact it after a quick break to recharge. I don’t know about you, Baby Bird, but I’m exhausted.”

Tim was planning to say something, but sleep claimed him before he could figure out what.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Tim and Jason woke up, they headed downstairs to hunt down Dick. They found him in the living room bending himself into a human pretzel and he gave them a bright grin the second he spotted them, chirping, “Jay! Timmy! There you guys are!”

He moved to balance on his hands, bending his back and legs until his feet touched his head, and Jason gave a mischievous grin, then walked forward and reached out to tickle Dick’s ribs. Dick yelped in surprise and toppled over against the couch, then unbent himself and reached out to swat at Jason playfully, warning, “Don’t start a fight you can’t win, Little Wing.”

Jason laughed and shoved at Dick’s shoulder as Dick stood, then stated, “There’s a new exhibit about Gotham’s heroes at the Gotham History Museum. Tim and I were thinking it would be fun to go.”

Dick’s face broke out in a devilish grin and he answered, “I’ll drive. Lemme go change. I just wish Damian were here to join us, but he’s with B right now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The exhibit was even more entertaining than anticipated. From the very creative speculations on if Batman was human or not to the almost painfully ugly (and yet stunningly accurate) replica of Dick’s Discowing suit, each new thing they saw was a new comedy goldmine. The one that got Tim the most, however, was the Robin wall.

“Jay. Oh my god, Jay, you have to see this. It’s priceless.”

Jason followed Tim over to the article Tim had been reading and Tim giggled as he looked at it.

**ROBIN ROMANCE?**

_By Daniella Scott_

_Is there something between Gotham’s favorite bird-boy and the third adopted son of Bruce Wayne, Timothy Drake? Let’s look at the evidence, shall we?_

The article went on to explain how they knew each other (through Wayne Enterprises’ funding of Batman), how every time Tim was in trouble, Robin was there to get him out, how Robin had been seen and photographed hugging Tim, and a half dozen other bits and pieces. By the end of the article, Jason was in tears laughing, clutching his stomach. He reached out to pull Tim against his side, then, through his laughter, gasped, “Wow, Baby Bird, I can’t believe you would cheat on me with _Robin_!”

Tim giggled and leaned into Jason, answering exaggeratedly, “What can I say, darling? He’s just so _mysterious_ and _cool_! I just couldn’t resist his charms!”

That set Jason into another fit of laughter, wheezing, “Stop it! Stop it! My stomach hurts!”

Tim grinned and Jason finally managed to stop laughing, wiping away the tears that had slipped down his cheeks. His eyes were bright and amused and his smile made Tim’s stomach do squirmy things.

_Shit. I think I love him._

Without even thinking, Tim pushed himself onto his tippy toes and kissed Jason, stating, “Don’t worry, Jay, you’re still my favorite.”

Jason ruffled Tim’s hair and kissed Tim’s temple, answering, “You’re my favorite, too, Baby Bird.”

Tim blushed and opened his mouth, but he was cut off by Dick announcing, “You guys _have_ to see this.”

Jason took Tim’s hand and the pair followed Dick over to one of the Batman articles.

**Dark Knight Date Night?**

_By Daniella Scott_

_We all know that Bruce Wayne’s company funds Batman, but is that all Batman is getting from Wayne? Because we have pictures of the Batmobile outside of Wayne Manor, as well as one stunning photograph of Batman kissing Bruce Wayne outside of one of Wayne’s numerous galas._

Jason’s laughter echoed through the whole exhibit and Tim had to press one hand over his mouth to keep his own laughter from doing the same as he leaned against Jason’s side, tears welling up and spilling down his cheeks. Dick was grinning like a maniac and he pulled out his phone. The sound of the phone ringing helped snap Jason and Tim out of their laughter and they both calmed as the call picked up and Bruce’s face appeared on the screen. He looked exasperated and Dick grinned wider, crying melodramatically, “B, how could you? I thought you trusted us!”

Bruce closed his eyes and, sounding like he knew he was going to regret it, asked, “What are you talking about, Dick?”

Dick’s grin reached truly terrifying proportions and he switched the cameras to show the article to Bruce, exclaiming, “I’m talking about the fact that you didn’t tell us you were dating Batman, B! How could you!”

Bruce looked pained and brought one hand up to massage his temples, sighing, “Why does this happen to me?”

Dick just laughed in response and Bruce sighed again, then stated, “Well, at least when I announce my relationship with Clark next week, this will be proven wrong.”

“Or people will assume that Clark is Batman.”

The words slipped out before Tim could stop them and Bruce made a face like he was in pain, answering, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Then he ended the call and left Jason, Tim, and Dick standing together, grinning like devils.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Declarations are made and Jason makes a scene or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

Tim was far from fond of galas. Sure, he didn’t have the same burning hatred for them that Jason did, but if one more old rich lady commented on how it was terrible what happened to his parents, he was going to snap, because his parents got exactly what they deserved and he was better off for it. He wasn’t going to say that, of course, he didn’t want to make a scene, but the thought crossed his mind every single time someone commented on it.

Jason had no such qualms.

“Listen, lady, Tim’s parents were shitty fuckin’ people and they deserved to get their asses locked up for what they did. It wasn’t a fuckin’ tragedy, it was fuckin’ justice.”

The woman Jason and Tim were standing in front of, a Mrs. Grace Whitmoore, looked like Jason had just slapped her across the face, mouth opening and closing for several minutes until, voice shrill, she exclaimed, “How dare you speak to me like that, young man?!? I don’t know who you think you are-”

The rest of Mrs. Whitmoore’s rant faded into the background as Jason led Tim away, face furious as he mumbled some rather creative swears under his breath. Tim wasn’t entirely certain who the swears were directed at, his parents or Mrs. Whitmoore, but the mere fact of Jason saying what Tim was too scared to say made Tim’s stomach squirm with love. He leaned into Jason’s side, knees feeling like they had been suddenly replaced with Jell-O, and Jason wrapped an arm around him, pulling Tim closer and pressing a kiss to his forehead before asking, “You okay, Baby Bird? You looked like you were about to snap and, as fantastic as that would’ve been, I figured you wouldn’t like causing a scene.”

Tim giggled despite himself and answered, “You’re amazing, Jay.”

Jason gave a cocky smirk that did nothing to return Tim’s knees from their Jell-O state, replying cockily, “I know I am, Baby Bird.”

Tim swatted lightly at Jason and Jason guided him over to where Bruce was standing, checking his watch and glancing out the window. He gave the pair an airheaded smile that made Tim’s skin crawl, just a little, and laughed, “Well, I guess this is how all those ladies I was late to dates with felt.”

Jason rolled his eyes, but, clearly hearing the insecurity that Bruce couldn’t quite hide behind Brucie, answered, “He’s probably helping get a kitten out of a tree or somethin’ good and pure like that, B. The guy doesn’t have a mean bone in his damn body, he wouldn’t stand you up, ‘specially without a damn good reason.”

Bruce still looked worried, but, true to Jason’s prediction, a car arrived in the driveway a moment later and Clark emerged, fidgeting with his tie and checking his watch before hurrying inside. He quickly made his way to where Bruce, Jason, and Tim were, waiting until he was close enough to not shout before babbling, “I’m so sorry I’m late, darling, we hit traffic and I left my phone here last night, so I couldn’t text to let you know that we were running late, please forgive me.”

Bruce gave a small, real smile and reached out to take Clark’s hand, answering, “It’s alright. It happens. And you’re here now, that’s the important part.”

Clark looked relieved and Bruce checked his watch, adding, “Just in time, too. My speech is right now.”

He pulled Clark towards the stage at the front of the ballroom and Jason and Tim followed, finding cushy chairs with a great view from which to watch the absolute shitstorm to come. Bruce narrowed his eyes at them from the stage, clearly suspicious, but it was quickly replaced with a bright smile as he tapped the microphone, calling, “Good evening, everybody!”

In a heartbeat, you could hear a pin drop. Clark fidgeted with his tie as Bruce started his speech by thanking everyone for their donations. He rambled for so long that Tim noticed Jason’s eyes starting to glaze over and Tim rolled his eyes, gently kicking Jason’s ankle and whispering, “Pay attention.”

Jason groaned and whispered back, “Would he just get on with it already?”

Bruce would not just get on with it already, as it turned out, as he rambled for another ten minutes before _finally_ reaching over to grab Clark’s hand, stating, “On a final note, I am proud to announce my relationship with Clark Kent, my boyfriend of 5 years.”

As shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd, Bruce turned to lead Clark off of the stage. The second they set foot off the stage, however, the vultures descended, flocking to Bruce and Clark to ask questions. Clark looked incredibly uncomfortable and Bruce squeezed his hand, looking like he would give anything to not be in the center of the crowd. Tim leaned against Jason and lazily stated, “We should do something to help them out.”

Jason hummed thoughtfully, then suggested, “Let’s go over and say hi, shall we?”

Tim raised an eyebrow, then, after a moment of trying to discern Jason’s motives, decided that he didn’t _really_ care and stood up, answering, “Yeah, sure. Let’s go.”

Jason stood up as well and the duo started walking towards Bruce and Clark, pushing their way through the crowds of reporters and socialites to stand in front of Bruce. Jason grinned like the Devil, making Bruce’s eyes widen in honest-to-god fear before Jason suddenly went completely limp, collapsing to the ground in a heap. The crowd went dead-silent as Bruce, Tim, and Clark all dropped to their knees around Jason, checking him over. Clark looked frantic, but Bruce just looked resigned and, under his breath, muttered, “You little shit.”

The fondness in his voice made the corner of Jason’s mouth twitch into a smile and Clark and Tim rolled their eyes at each other. Then Bruce gently slid his arms under Jason and scooped him up, calling, “Can we get some space?”

The crowded parted like the Red Sea, allowing Bruce to carry Jason over to the chairs they had been in, Clark and Tim on his heels. Clark looked genuinely worried about Jason despite it being an act and Tim tried to school his face into anything other than ‘fond resignation’, but he was pretty sure he failed that task. Bruce settled Jason into a chair and made a show of checking his temperature and pulse, loudly asking Tim, “Did he mention feeling sick earlier? I thought he looked a little off during the speech and he’s feeling a bit warm.”

Tim caught the obvious attempt to skip out of the rest of the gala and, perfectly happy to assist (given that he didn’t want to be there either), answered, “He kept spacing out during your speech.”

Bruce frowned and, as Jason started to fake waking up, stated, “Looks like he’s sick. We should get him home. Clark, could you find Dick and Damian, please? We’ll be in the car.”

Clark nodded and hurried off to find the oldest and youngest as Bruce scooped Jason up. Jason gave slurred protests, clearly milking the act for all it was worth, and reached out to bat weakly at Bruce’s shoulder, all of which Bruce ignored. Tim and Bruce walked out the front doors, Jason held in Bruce’s arms and reporters trailing after them, and made their way to the car. When they reached the car, Tim opened the back door and climbed in, helping Bruce get Jason settled on the leather seat. Jason slumped against Tim as Bruce closed the door, then, once Bruce was in the front seat, cracked open one eye and asked, “Can we go out for ice-cream?”

Bruce hummed thoughtfully and answered, “I shouldn’t be rewarding you using your acting skills for this, you know. This is an important gala.”

Jason yawned widely, though Tim couldn’t actually tell if it was genuine or mocking, then answered, “Yeah, but you didn’t want to be here either, did you? Otherwise you wouldn’t’ve lied about me feeling warm.”

Bruce turned to look at Jason as the back door opened again, allowing Dick and Damian to pile in, then, as Clark slid into the passenger seat, sighed, “Fine. We’ll go out for ice-cream.”

Jason fist-pumped, then swatted at Dick’s hand when Dick reached out to take his temperature. Dick frowned and Jason gave him a grin, stating, “Oh please, Dickhead, I’m fine. I was faking it.”

Damian’s eyes flicked between Bruce and Jason, then to Tim, who was squished between the door and Jason because the backseat was really not designed for four people. Tim shrugged and stated, “Faking sick is a great way to skip a gala as long as you have parents who give a shit about you.”

That earned him a strange look from everyone else in the car and Dick asked, “They made you go to galas sick?”

Tim raised an eyebrow, answering, “Is that surprising? As long as they could make it look like I wasn’t sick, I’d get dragged to the galas.”

Dick frowned and Tim felt a little bad for bringing it up until Damian stated firmly, “If we are going out for ice-cream, I insist that we go to Carmen’s Creamery. They have superior pistachio.”

Jason made a face and the car quickly devolved into an argument about the best ice-cream flavors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim soon found himself sitting in Jason’s lap in a cramped booth at Carmen’s Creamery, a waffle-cone bowl of peanut butter swirl in his hands. Dick was squeezed in beside them, some horrible bright blue monstrosity in his hands, and Damian was squished in beside Bruce and Clark, a bowl of pistachio in front of him. Bruce and Clark were sharing a bowl of orange sherbet and Jason had a cone full of strawberry shortcake that he was eating with gusto. They made quite a sight, the six of them in black tuxedoes crammed into a booth built for two, eating ice-cream and having three conversations at once. Bruce, Damian, and Dick were arguing the possibility of getting a cow, with Clark occasionally chiming in to back up Damian and Dick in their quest. At the same time, Clark and Jason were discussing the possibility of Jason coming out to the Kent farm to learn how to fix the tractors sometime, which led to Tim butting in a little bit to suggest upgrades. And while both of those conversations were going, Bruce and Clark were having their own conversation about scheduling another date night. It was loud and chaotic and people were giving them strange looks, but Tim couldn’t help but feel warm and fuzzy inside as he watched his family. It was a little wonky, a little odd, but they were his family in a way that Jack and Janet could never be and he wouldn’t trade them for the world. The realization that he had a family, a proper family like he had always wanted, made him tear up a little, earning a concerned look from his family and a squeeze around the waist from Jason, who asked, “You alright, Baby Bird?”

Tim wiped his tears away, then answered, “I just- I love you guys.”

The words slipped out before he could stop them and he cringed a little, but another squeeze around his waist and a kiss to the top of his head snapped him out of it as Jason answered, “We love you too, Baby Bird.”

Dick immediately chimed his agreement, followed closely by Clark and Bruce. Even Damian nodded stiffly, giving an awkward, “You as well, Drake.”

Tim smiled despite himself and snuggled into Jason’s chest, getting another kiss to the top of his head as the conversations resumed. And it wasn’t a lot, but Tim felt lighter, like some unnamable weight had been lifted as he watched Bruce try to explain to Damian that a cow wasn’t really a good starter pet and Dick immediately try to convince Bruce that they should get a dog first, which made Damian light up. Jason gave Tim a little squeeze and quietly asked, “You good, Baby Bird?”

Tim leaned his head back to kiss Jason’s cheek and answered, “Yeah. Just… happy. To have a family.”

That made Jason smile in that soft way that always made Tim’s stomach feel like he had just swallowed a whole lepidopterarium worth of butterflies and press a soft kiss to Tim’s mouth, stating, “We’re happy to have you too, Baby Bird.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for basically dropping off the face of the Earth. Between being sick, school, and my mental health taking a kick to the nuts, I haven't had the time or motivation to really write. Please forgive me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parties, puppies, and PE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

They finished their ice-cream quickly and, afterwards, they headed out onto the sidewalk. It was a nice night, warm without being hot, and, after several minutes of shameless pleading, they convinced Bruce that it was too nice a night to head home. He agreed to take them to the 24-hour trampoline park that was halfway between the creamery and the Manor, which led to several hours of Dick gleefully teaching Damian acrobatics, doing flips and cartwheels as Clark tried in vain to convince Bruce to try jumping. Tim couldn’t help his laughter at the scene they must make, four boys in tuxedos jumping on trampolines at midnight. Clark apparently finally gave up trying to convince Bruce and went alone to where Damian and Dick were on the trampolines, talking with them for a minute before Dick lit up like a glowstick and started cheerfully demonstrating flips. Jason was on the trampoline beside Tim, laughing and shouting at Dick to try and distract him. Tim looked over at Bruce, who looked almost wistful, and couldn’t help but roll his eyes, grabbing Jason’s arm and stating, “C’mon. We’re dragging Bruce up here to bounce with us.”

Jason looked amused and answered, “And how do you suggest we do that, Baby Bird?”

Tim frowned, not having thought that far, and Jason hummed thoughtfully, then grabbed Tim’s hand and pulled Tim with him over to where Bruce was sitting, calling loudly, “DAD!”

Bruce jumped and snapped his gaze to Jason, who grabbed his wrist and started tugging at him, announcing, “Tim said that I’m not doing a backflip right. Come show him how it’s done properly.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow, but obediently stood, taking his suit jacket off and setting it on the table before removing his shoes and following Jason and Tim up to the trampolines. Jason shot Tim a smug look as Bruce demonstrated a flip for them and Tim cocked his head, then, seeing Bruce making to leave, asked, “Can you help me do a flip?”

Bruce looked startled by that, but, after a moment of hesitation, walked to stand beside Tim and guided him through a backflip. Jason then called him over for something and Tim couldn’t help but grin at the soft, genuine smile on Bruce’s face as he bounced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was as they were walking back to the car after finishing up at the trampoline park that Tim heard it. A soft whining noise, coming from behind a few trashcans in an alleyway. Damian’s gaze snapped to the cans and, without missing a beat, he squirmed out from under Dick’s arm and rushed over to the cans. Tim followed, Jason just behind him, and they worked together to move the trashcans, revealing a small, malnourished black puppy with big, sad eyes. It whined and Damian reached out to it slowly, freezing when the puppy shifted to sniff his fingers. Tim held his breath, hoping the dog wouldn’t bite, then let out a relieved sigh when the puppy licked Damian’s fingers and moved to press the top of its head into his palm. Dick squealed and, out of the corner of his eye, Tim could see him bouncing up and down. Bruce looked resigned and walked over slowly, holding out his hand for the puppy to sniff. The puppy licked his thumb, then butted his hand, seeking pets. Bruce’s resigned expression gave way to soft fondness and Tim glanced at Damian, who looked absolutely enraptured by the puppy, then at Jason, who grinned and teased, “Hey look, Baby Bird, it’s you!”

Tim swatted his arm lightly, voice cracking with laughter even as he replied, “Oh, shut up, jerk.”

Tim’s attention was suddenly drawn by Bruce stating softly, “We should take it to a vet. It looks like it might be injured.”

Then the puppy was being gently gathered in Bruce’s arms and he was staring the them expectantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim fell asleep against Jason’s side as they sat in the 24-hour emergency vet and, when he woke up, he was in Jason’s lap in the backseat of the car, Damian’s head against his shoulder. A smallish carrying crate was sitting in Damian’s lap and Tim could see black fur pressed against the bars of the crate door. Tim yawned, shifting to get more comfortable, and Jason made a sleepy noise, tightening his grip around Tim’s waist and mumbling, “Go back to sleep, Baby Bird.”

Tim yawned again, settling against Jason, and closed his eyes, letting the motion of the car lull him back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim woke up again with a beam of sunlight on his face, tucked into bed. He was still wearing his tuxedo, albeit without shoes, tie, or jacket, and he sat up slowly, stumbling out of bed to change into something more comfortable. Then he glanced at the clock, which read 9:30 AM, and ambled down to the kitchen, where Jason and Dick were sitting at the table, eating breakfast in the same tired, zombie-like state that Tim was in himself. Tim slumped into the seat beside Jason and set his head on the table, closing his eyes and wondering if he could sneak in a couple extra hours of sleep. The soft clink of ceramic on wood reached him and he looked up to find a steaming cup of coffee and a plate of breakfast on the table in front of him. He looked up at Alfred, who was giving him a knowing smile, and announced, “Alfred, you are a gift to us all.”

That made the corner of Alfred’s mouth twitch up into an amused smile and he stated, “I am well aware, Master Timothy, but it is nice to hear it said aloud.”

Tim gave him a smile and picked up the mug, gulping down the hot coffee with a pleased noise. The caffeine went to work quickly, making Tim feel marginally less like a corpse as he asked, “Where’s Damian?”

Jason took a sip of his black tea, then answered, “Went with B to get supplies for the puppy.”

Tim nodded, taking another sip of his coffee, then nearly spat it out as the words processed, coughing, “Puppy? The one last night?”

“Yep. He named it Titus.”

Tim stared down into the mug of coffee for several long seconds, then decided it wasn’t that big of a leap and began eating. Sleepy silence filled the room and Tim leaned against Jason, closing his eyes again and letting himself bask in the peace that came along with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All too soon, it was August 7th, the first day back at Gotham Academy. Tim scowled as he fidgeted with his tie, very much not looking forward to the new year or dealing with his less pleasant peers. Jason had a similar look on his face and Damian looked even less pleased as he argued with Bruce, trying to convince Bruce that he should be homeschooled. Bruce refused to budge on the topic, insisting that it would be good for Damian, and herded them out the door to where Alfred and Dick waiting with the car. Dick looked smug, standing beside the car, and called, “Aww, look at my three baby bros, off to their first day of school. So glad _my classes_ don’t start until-”

Dick’s smug ramble was cut off by a dress shoe to the trachea, expertly thrown by Jason. Damian nodded in approval, stating, “Excellent aim, Todd.”

Jason gave a smug smirk as Dick coughed, massaging his throat, then answered, “Thanks, Baby Bat. Good to hear.”

Dick pouted as Jason retrieved his shoe, whining, “B, Jay is being mean to me!”

Bruce gave Dick an amused look and answered, “You brought that one on yourself, chum.”

Dick pouted, but quickly got over himself, holding his arms out for a hug. Jason rolled his eyes, but allowed it before crawling into the car. Tim followed suit, settling into the seat beside Jason as Damian grumbled about Grayson being a sentimental fool even as he hugged him. Then they were off to school, much to their displeasure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took all of two blocks for Tim to get cornered. Charles Ruthford and Lawrence Kensington, two of the older boys who found picking on the weird Drake kid to be an enjoyable pastime, back him up again wall near the cafeteria doors during P.E., where the teachers wouldn’t see them. Tim scowled at the two, too pissed off at them fucking up his time for the mile to really care as he snapped, “Do you mind? I was running the mile.”

Lawrence’s face twisted into a sneer and he shoved Tim back against the wall, cooing mockingly, “Aww, look at that, Charles. Little bitch boy Drake thinks that just because he’s taking it up the ass from Wayne, he can stand up to us.”

Charles laughed, then wound up a disgustingly obvious punch. Tim watched impassively, preparing himself to take the blow as he noted that Charles had his thumb tucked into his fingers and would probably injure himself more than he would injure Tim. He started to swing, but was interrupted by Damian’s voice ordering, “Step away from Drake, you brainless cretins.”

Charles’s fist kept moving, but Tim took his brief distraction to sidestep the punch. Charles hit the wall with the crack of his thumb and possibly a few fingers breaking. He let out a pained half-scream, clutching his fist to his chest, and Tim looked at Damian, greeting, “Hey, Damian. Why aren’t you in class?”

Damian made a face and held up a pass, stating, “Wilcox allowed me to go to the library. I am hoping they will have something of literary merit, rather than the whimsical drivel she insists on reading to the other students.”

Tim hummed thoughtfully, then asked, “Ever read Jane Eyre? It’s pretty good.”

Damian nodded, answering, “Very well. I shall check to see if it is available.”

Tim slipped out from his place between the wall and his harassers, glancing at Charles’s hand and stating, “You should probably go see the nurse.”

Then he returned his attention to Damian, asking, “Need some help finding the library?”

Damian gave him a Look and Tim shrugged, teasing lightly, “Just asking, seeing as the library is on the other side of the building from the track and all. Figured maybe you had gotten a little lost.”

Damian sniffed haughtily, answering, “I am well aware of the library’s location. I merely wished to make certain that Todd was not defiling you in a supply closet, as American students are wont to do according to Grayson’s films.”

Tim felt a blush rise in his cheeks and buried his face in his hands, announcing firmly, “I’m going to kill Dick. Go get your book, Damian. And don’t worry, Jay _definitely_ won’t be defiling me in a supply closet. I promise.”

Damian looked doubtful, but strutted away, making his way back into the building. Tim walked over to the teachers, briefly explaining that a kid had asked him for directions and requesting a restart for his time, then started running again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunch came quickly and Tim soon found himself sitting beside Jason in the cafeteria, watching Jason try desperately to not cry with laughter as Tim regaled him with the previous class’s adventures. At the mention of supply closet sex, Jason lost his battle, face turning cherry red and tears streaming down his cheeks as he hunched over, barely able to breathe because of how hard he was laughing. Tim swatted at him, unable to stop his own laughter, and scolded, “Stop laughing, you prick! Do you have any idea how humiliating it was to have your little brother look you dead in the eyes and tell you that he expected to find you having sex in a supply closet!”

Jason snorted, gasping for air, and finally managed to wheeze, “Fuckin’ shit, Baby Bird, warn a guy before you say stuff like that! I can’t breathe!”

Tim tried to pout, but his own laughter made it hard and he soon gave up, swatting gently at Jason’s arm and sighing, “Asshole.”

As the lunch bell rang, Jason leaned over, cooing, “Aww, does that mean you don’t want me to defile you in a supply closet, Baby Bird?”

Tim swatted at him again, his whole face cherry red as he scolded Jason for being an asshole.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birth-Jay!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm aware that the summary is the worst pun in the world and that I should be ashamed of myself. What else would you expect from me at this point?
> 
> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

Tim woke up on Wednesday, August 16th, to the feeling of a warm body clambering under the covers with him. The person in the bed with him wrapped Tim up in a familiar hug and Tim curled into Jason, mumbling, “Happy birthday, Jay.”

Jason nuzzled the top of Tim’s head, mumbling, “Thanks, Baby Bird. Sleep time.”

Tim laughed softly, resting his head against Jason’s chest and tucking the blankets around them to make a little cocoon as Jason’s breathing slowed in sleep. Jason’s warmth made it hard for Tim to keep his eyes open and he let them sag shut, drifting asleep with the soft thumping of Jason’s heart against his ear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim woke up again to Damian shouting, “Todd! Cease in defiling Drake this instant!”

Jason jerked awake with a sleepy groan and rolled to squish Tim against the mattress, mumbling, “Fuck ‘re you talkin’ ‘bout, kid? Was sleepin’. Lemme sleep.”

Jason seemed about to drift back asleep, but Tim squirmed and shoved lightly at Jason, reminding, “Need to breathe, Jay.”

Jason groaned again, but obediently rolled to the side, tucking Tim against his chest like a teddy bear and nuzzling Tim’s hair sleepily. Tim snuggled in close and prepared to go back to sleep, but Dick’s voice forestalled that plan, cooing, “Awww, lookit Jay and Timmy snuggling! They’re so cute! Aren’t they so cute, B?”  
  


Bruce gave a resigned sigh and answered, “Yes, I suppose they are rather cute.”

“It’d be a shame to disturb them. Oh well.”

Tim groaned at the idea of having to be awake, wanting to stay snuggled up in Jason’s arms, but the universe was not on his side. And neither was Dick, for that matter, as he leaped onto the bed, shaking Jason awake again, and chirped, “Get up! Get up get up get up! It’s time to celebrate your birthday, Little Wing! You’re 15 now! B can teach you to drive the Batmobile now!”

That seemed to get Jason awake, because he jerked up, staring at Bruce and asking, “Really?!? I can drive the Batmobile?!?”

Bruce sighed as Tim slowly sat up, then answered, “After I teach you the basics, you can try driving her. Deal?”

Jason’s grin was blinding and he scrambled out of the bed, tackling Bruce in a hug as he exclaimed, “Deal!”

Tim slowly extracted himself from the bed, keeping one blanket wrapped around himself as he stumbled over to Jason and slithered in under Jason’s arm, tucking himself close. Jason hugged him tightly and Tim pushed himself onto his tiptoes, pressing a soft kiss to Jason’s cheek as he murmured, “Happy birthday, Jay.”

Jason kissed Tim without hesitation, nipping Tim’s lower lip, and Tim leaned into it, a contented noise escaping him before Dick, voice betraying his laughter, called, “Break it up, lovebirds. There’s a kid here and breakfast downstairs.”

Jason pulled away, laughing, and scooped Tim up. Tim gave a startle squeak at the sudden motion and squirmed, complaining, “Jay! Put me down! It’s your birthday, you shouldn’t be doing work!”

Jason gave Tim a cocky grin and started down the hall, answering, “Aww, c’mon, Baby Bird. You’re not heavy enough to be work. You’re like carrying a pillow.”

Tim swatted at him, laughing even as he did, and Jason kissed his head as he started down the stairs. Knowing it was futile, Tim gave up fighting, snuggling into Jason’s chest as they reached the dining room. The table was laden with food and, piled at one end, was a stack of several presents. The wrapped packages made Tim gasp and squirm as he exclaimed, “Jay, put me down! I forgot to bring your present down!”

Jason squished Tim a little closer, teasing, “Hmmm, I dunno. I don’t think there’s any present greater than you in my arms.”

Tim blushed bright red at that and leaned into Jason, promising, “I’ll be right back.”

Jason hummed, but set Tim down. Tim immediately darted up the stairs and into his room, retrieving the wrapped packages from his bedside table. Then he bolted back downstairs as the others reached the dining room and set the packages on the table, nearly wiping out as his socked feet kept sliding after the rest of him stopped. Jason gave a snort of laughter and Tim stuck his tongue out, making his way over to the seat beside Jason’s. Before he could sit down, though, Jason reached out and gently tugged Tim into his lap, teasing, “You said you’d be back after grabbing my gifts. Presumably that meant back in my arms.”

Dick cooed, only partially mocking, and Damian rolled his eyes, but Tim merely melted against Jason, answering, “Sappy.”

“You’re damn right I am, Baby Bird.”

Jason reached out to grab the plate of sausages, pulling it close enough to start loading sausages onto their plates, and Tim leaned over to grab the mug of coffee resting at his own spot. Jason pushed the mug a little farther away, teasing, “Y’know, Baby Bird, you really shouldn’t be drinking coffee. It’s not good for you.”

The table burst into giggles and Tim reached back to pat Jason’s cheek lightly, answering sassily, “Neither is being Robin, but I think we both know you wouldn’t want to stop seeing my butt in those pants.”

That made the laughter louder and Jason gently nipped Tim’s fingers, but picked the mug up and handed it to Tim, complaining, “When did you get this sassy, Baby Bird? It’s not fair.”

Tim took a sip of his coffee and leaned back against Jason’s chest happily, answering, “I’ve always been sassy on the inside, now I’m just comfortable enough to be sassy on the outside.”

That earned Tim a warm arm around his waist and Tim took another sip of his coffee as Titus ambled into the dining room, walking over to sniff curiously at Tim. The Great Dane had grown like a weed in the course of a month, going from a relatively small puppy to nearly equal in height to Tim’s knees, and Damian had been working hard to train him, getting him house-broken in an impressively short amount of time. Tim reached down to scratch Titus’s ears, earning a pleased huff from the dog, and began eating as Jason and Dick talked excitedly about driving the Batmobile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason spent a good portion of the day helping Bruce out in the Cave, tuning up the Batmobiles and motorcycles, and helping Alfred out in the kitchen. Tim took it upon himself to take as many photos as he could, happily clicking away as Jason changed oil, tightened bolts, inflated tires, and help Alfred make chili. Clark showed up around 4 PM, a cake and presents from Ma and Pa Kent in tow, and, much to Tim’s surprise, Wonder Woman showed up at 5, a pristinely wrapped gift in hand. She looked nearly as surprised to see Tim as Tim was to see her and, after several long seconds, she turned to Bruce and stated loftily, “You did not tell me you had taken in another son, Bruce. I’m quite hurt.”

Then her eyes fell on Damian where he was playing with Titus and she gave Bruce a Look, stating, “I was under the impression that friends told one another when they took in children, Bruce.”

Bruce closed his eyes, looking like he regretted his life choices, and introduced, “Diana, this is Tim and Damian. Tim, Damian, this is Diana.”

Damian gave a nod and Tim tried not to have a heart attack as he _shook Wonder Woman’s hand_ , nearly vibrating out of his skin from excitement. Diana gave him an amused smile and Tim managed to squeak, “It’s an honor to meet you, Ms. Wonder Woman, ma’am.”

“Please, Tim, call me Diana. We are among friends, after all.”

Jason snorted at the way Tim’s eyes went wide and bumped his hip against Tim, teasing, “I think you broke him, Diana.”

Then he stepped in to give Diana a hug. She happily reciprocated, then looked at Tim, asking with a hint of worry, “Is he alright?”

Jason smiled and tapped Tim’s nose lightly, jerking Tim out of his trance as Jason answered, “He’s fine. Guess B ‘forgot’ to tell him that you were coming.”

Bruce’s face gave away nothing, but he couldn’t quite hide the amusement in his voice as he answered, “I plead the fifth.”

Tim flushed red and Jason mussed his hair gently, teasing, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had a crush on Wonder Woman along with Superman and Robin.”

Tim gave a noise of protest, fluffing up indignantly, but was cut off by Dick.

“Like you’ve got any room to judge, Little Wing. I thought you were going to bow down and worship at Diana’s feet the first time you met her. And let’s not talk about your little meltdown after meeting Red Arrow, or your crisis after you realized that you wanted to date Tim.”

Jason’s face flushed to match Tim’s and he pounced on his older brother, starting a friendly wrestling match as Tim pulled himself together enough to start peppering Diana with questions. Diana happily answered them, asking Tim questions of her own, and Jason soon finished fighting Dick, sidling over to Tim and plastering himself against Tim’s back. Tim curled into him out of habit as Diana started talking with Jason and Tim let his mind wander, wondering when he had gotten so _comfortable_ with everything. There was a time when even thinking about getting hugged from behind made Tim anxious, but now he was perfectly content to snuggle into it and soak up the affection that Jason offered freely.

It felt good, being…

Being loved.

Tim was jerked out of his thoughts by a cold, wet nose against his shin, making him yelp and jump. Titus skittered back, startled, and Tim clutched his chest, trying to calm his pulse as he laughed and knelt down to scratch Titus’s ears. Titus surged forward at the affection, knocking Tim over onto Jason’s feet and practically crawling into Tim’s lap. Tim laughed and Jason shifted his feet out from under Tim’s butt, sitting down on the floor and reaching out to scratch Titus’s neck. Titus snuggled against Tim, eyes closing with pleasure, and Diana sat down as well, gently petting Titus. The Great Dane was clearly delighted by the attention and his tail thumped against the hardwood flooring, the loud thuds drawing laughter from around the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason loved his present from Tim. It was a leather-bound photo album, filled up about halfway with photos. Some were of Jason as Robin, others of him as Jason. A few were of him with the family, including Tim.

(Jason would deny crying when he opened it until the day he died. Tim would be the first to call him a filthy liar.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After cake and opening presents, the whole crew piled into the living room, settling in to binge the entire Lord of the Rings series. Tim wound up, unsurprisingly, bundled up in blankets with Jason, his head resting on Jason’s chest. Jason was gently playing with Tim’s hair, a look of contentment and adoration on his face, and Tim closed his eyes, mumbling sleepily, “I love you, Jay.”

A soft kiss was pressed to his head and, as the Hobbits began their adventure, Jason whispered back, “I love you, too, Baby Bird.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, everybody. The final chapter of Robin Romance. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read, commented, and left kudos on this series. I wouldn't have made it this far without you all. 
> 
> Also, if anyone has a prompt that they want me to write, feel free to comment it or hit me up on Tumblr.
> 
> My Tumblr is The-Devil-In-The-Details-666. Feel free to come yell at me for being mean to Tim or about the BatFam in general.

It had been exactly 10 years since Jason died.  
  
10 years since he walked into a warehouse in Ethiopia looking for his mom, only to find a deranged clown.  
  
10 years since he was beaten to a bloody pulp with a crowbar and caught in an explosion, 10 years since his heart slowed, slowed, slowed, and finally stopped, the light draining from his eyes and the blood from his body as he lay in the smoking remains of his former life.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Tim woke up curled up against his husband’s warm side, snuggled up close and greedily stealing the other man’s heat for his own. His husband gave a soft laugh, tucking Tim closer and pressing a soft kiss to Tim’s head with a murmur of, “You’re so cute, Baby Bird.”  
  
Tim nestled into Jason and gave an exaggerated pout, answering, “What I am, Jay, is cold. It’s freezing in here.”  
  
Jason smirked down at Tim, then, in one swift move, rolled to lay on top of Tim, trapping Tim between Jason and the warm spot on the mattress where Jason had been. Tim rolled his eyes, but settled into the pocket of warmth with a hum of contentment, wrapping his arms around Jason. The only noise was their breathing, slow and relaxed, and the distant sound of cars in the street 70 floors below them. Jason’s hand came up to trace the scars on Tim’s chest, expression troubled, and Tim reached up to grab his hand, running his thumb over Jason’s scarred knuckles as he stated firmly, “They’re not your fault, Jay. You didn’t ask the League to take you.”  
  
Jason opened his mouth, but Tim gave no quarter, continuing firmly, “We made the decision to come after you and it is a decision that is worth every single scar, because if we hadn’t made that decision, I doubt I would have you here right now.”  
  
A pink blush rose up in Jason’s cheeks and Tim reached up to cradle Jason’s face in one hand, continuing, “I love you, Jay, and I would fight God and the Devil to keep you with me. Ra’s al Ghul may have had a ninja army and a Lazarus pit, but that’s nothing compared to the love I have for you. I would tear apart Heaven and Earth if you asked me to, got it? You’re mine, Jay, and I don’t like giving up what’s mine.”  
  
Jason’s face was a lovely shade of red, nearly the same shade as his helmet, but his expression was no longer troubled. Tim couldn’t help his reflexive snarl at the memory of finding Ra’s al Ghul trying to brainwash Jason to kill Tim, the crusty old bastard running his disgusting hands all over Jason. It had been deeply satisfying to bring his staff down on Ra’s’s head, sending the perverted shit-stain crumpling to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. And if Damian had taken a sword and made certain that Ra’s al Ghul would never hurt them again, well, that could never be proven. As far as Tim cared to say, a former member of the League had shown up to demonstrate his displeasure with Ra’s’s actions.  
  
Tim was jerked out of memory by Jason peppering soft kisses along his neck, nuzzling his jaw with the kind of sweet, loving softness that made Tim turn to Jell-O even after all these years. Without thinking about it, Tim laced his arms around Jason, holding his husband close, and let the steady thumping of Jason’s heart reassure Tim that he was okay, he was safe, he was alive. Jason’s fingers tangled in Tim’s hair, petting softly, and Tim gave a pleased hum at the sensation. Then Jason stated, “We should get up at some point.”  
  
Tim made a face at that and nestled closer, perfectly content to spend the anniversary of Jason’s death curled up in bed with his husband. Jason gave a soft laugh, teasing gently, “I suppose we could stay in bed a little longer. I’d hate for you to be cold.”  
  
Tim nodded firmly and settled in, eyes sagging closed and body relaxing as Jason played with his hair gently. Jason hummed softly, some love song Tim vaguely recognized from the radio, and Tim pressed a kiss to the fork of the Y-shaped autopsy scar on his chest, mumbling, “Love you, Jay.”

Jason scraped his nails over Tim’s scalp and answered, “Love you too, Baby Bird.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim awoke to the apartment door opening and Dick called, “Timmy, Little Wing! You guys here?”

Jason groaned, but called, “What do you want, Dickwing? We’re cozy.”

Dick entered the bedroom, Damian just behind him, and flopped onto the mattress, stating, “B wants you guys to come to the Manor for dinner tonight.”

Jason gave an annoyed groan and buried his face in Tim’s hair, stating, “Tell him that Tim and I already have plans.”

“And what plans are those, Little Wing?”

Tim yawned, chiming in, “Are you sure you wanna know the answer to that question, Dick? Normally you get all squirrelly when Jason starts talking about that.”

Dick made a face and Jason gave a snort of laughter, answering, “Not quite the plans I had in mind, Baby Bird, but I’m certainly not against that. I was gonna take you out to dinner and ice skating.”

“I can’t ice skate worth a damn and you know it, Jay.”

Jason smirked like the cat that got the canary, replying, “I know. You always cling close to me.”

Tim rolled his eyes and squirmed out from under Jason, reaching over to grab his bracelet. It had amassed a large collection of charms, so many that Tim actually had to rotate through them, but there were a few that never left. The key and compass charms that Jason had given to him that first Christmas stayed, along with his camera and the coffee cup. Alongside them were 2 bullets, a mangled bullet that had been pulled out of Jason’s abdomen after a mission gone horribly wrong and a clean, shiny .45 bullet that was the last bullet in Jason’s last box of real bullets before he switched completely to rubber bullets. A charm in the shape of Jason’s helmet was nestled between the two, the only ‘Bat-family’ charm that Tim wore on his bracelet instead of on a necklace. The final permanent charm was a small arrow-shaped charm that actually contained a small dart coated with an extremely strong, extremely fast-acting knockout drug. The charm had been a wedding gift from Poison Ivy, surprisingly, to business man Timothy Drake-Wayne-Todd, who she had developed a certain fondness for after he used his position as CEO of Wayne Enterprises to absolutely _decimate_ a company that had been illegally destroying huge portions of the Amazon rainforest, as well as funding the restoration of the destroyed parts. Tim smiled at the bracelet, running his thumb over the little Red Hood charm, and hooked the bracelet around his wrist, flopping back against Jason and settling in comfortably as he stated, “Please, I spend most of my time with you pressed against you. It’s totally wrecked my reputation at work for being aloof and standoffish. Besides, we can always go out afterwards. We’ll be there tonight, Dick.”

Jason kissed the back of Tim’s head and huffed a little laugh, teasing, “And Red Robin wrecked Red Hood’s reputation for being scary and crazy. Karma, Baby Bird.”

Tim rolled his eyes again, then sighed and suggested, “I’m not getting back to sleep. Wanna go out for breakfast?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Jason and Tim arrived at the Manor to find the whole family there. Clark and Bruce were at the dining room table, debating which ‘junior heroes’ to extend Justice League membership to. Dick and Barbara were curled up on the couch, tangled up in each other and the blankets, and Cass and Steph were on the loveseat, with Cass leaned against Steph’s chest as Steph studied. Alfred was in the kitchen, surrounded by cheerfully bubbling pots, and Damian was helping him chop apples for apple crisp as Colin grated ginger. Jason immediately stepped in to help with the cooking and Tim, knowing that he’d be more of a hindrance than a help, settled in at the counter, stealing pieces of chopped apple from Damian’s cutting board when his younger brother wasn’t looking. He managed to sneak 5 or 6 pieces before a light smack to his hand told him that he’d been caught and Tim gave Damian an innocent smile, stealing another slice before retreating into the living room. Duke had descended by then and claimed one of the armchairs at the chess table, looking apprehensive. Without missing a beat, Tim took the other chair, asking, “Do you play chess?”

Duke nearly jumped out of his skin at Tim’s sudden question, then answered hesitantly, “I, uh, play a little. My dad taught me.”

Tim smiled a little and asked, “Wanna play?”

That earned him a small smile from Duke, who reached out to move a pawn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim beat Duke the first 3 times. Duke won the fourth because Tim got distracted by Jason.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner was, as per usual, ridiculously good. Afterwards, Dick ~~blackmailed~~ convinced everyone to stay for a movie night. Tim was pretty sure that they watched a movie. Like, 93.5% certain.

He honestly couldn’t tell you what movie, though, because he and Jason decided that making out the whole time was way more fun.

(And if it was revenge on Dick for making them cancel their plans that morning, well, who can say?)


End file.
